The Touristic Info Halkidiki informs: Mount Athos - Monasteries and skites

Moni Konstamonitou

Greek-orthodox, Holiday: December 27

The founding of the monastery, which is dedicated to St. Stefan, dates back to the 10th Century. The first written mention appeared in 1051AD 

About the history of the monastery in the following centuries we could hardly find documents. Until the 14th Century it was inhabited by Greek monks and played a minor role among the monasteries of the Holy Mountain. In the year 1420AD a fire destroyed the monastery.

Then it was rebuilt with money and workers of a Serbian military commander. In the subsequent period the monks increased. But already less than 100 years later, at the beginning of the 16th Century, the monastery went completely broke. When, in the middle of that century, a fire occured again, the monks abandoned it. 

Towards the end of the 18th Century it was in the hands of the Patriarch of Constantinople again. But in the mid-19th Century, it expressed financial worries again. The monastery is also called Moni Kastamonitou. 

The reason why it has two names is not quite known. "Kastamonitou" comes from the Middle ages, a monk from Asia Minor in Kastamone seems to be the founder. The official name which is used today, "Konstamonitou", however, has also a legend. 

The constant ups and downs in the history of the monastery meant that the buildings in the current facility were built in the 19th and 20th Century.