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

Moni Zografou

Bulgarian Orthodox, Holiday: April 23

According to tradition, the monastery was founded by a community and it was supported by the Byzantine Emperor Leon VI († 912AD), the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II († 1241AD), the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dusan († 1355AD) and the Serbian despot Jovan Ugljesa († 1371AD). 

A similar situation exists with another legend for the monastery which comes from the 10th Century with the brothers Aaron, John and Moses from Ohrid. Because they do not agree, who is doomed to be presented to a panel and asked for a divine sign.

The day after there was on the table, not created by human, the face of St. George, to whom they are so dedicated. And the monastery was named after the unknown artist: "Zografou" (the painter). 

Unlike many other signatures there’s no "Abbot" added. It is assumed that George, the painter was at this time the abbot of the monastery, but that is joined only by a monastic community. In the year 980AD it was mentioned again as a community. 

First, it was only inhabited by Greek monks, but the Bulgarian monks probably in the 13th and 14^th Century was the majority of the monastery. 

It is situated in the northern inland of the peninsula and is now almost exclusively inhabited by older monks. The monastery has unfortunately been threatened for centuries of its existence many times because of fires, so none of the original buildings has been preserved. The current facility dates back to the complete reconstruction in the 19th Century.