Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (Holy Monastery of Pendeli)

On the western slopes of Mount Pentelikos, in a position naturally protected by the height of Koufos, with the possibility of supervision in the surrounding area, we find the Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Pentelis or Mentelis, as it was called during the Turkish rule, one of the richest and largest monasteries in Greece. Its construction took place in 1570 or, more likely, in 1578, when a monk of the Gortynia monastery with the same name settled in Athens. At the beginning of the 17th century the monastery was renovated. During the period of the Turkish occupation (1456-1833) it continued to function and was dissolved in 1833 by law of the Othon Regency. The complex is surrounded by a four-sided precinct. From the initial monastery what survive are the catholicon and the pylon of the main entrance on the western side of the precinct. The catholicon belongs to the type of the two-columned cross-in-square church with an octagonal dome. Ancient and early Christian architectural elements have been incorporated into the walls, while the typical Byzantine brick-enclosed masonry is limited to the sanctuary arch and the dome. The church’s interior is decorated with wall paintings that date mainly to the 17th, 18th, and 19th century. Very few fragments of Byzantine wall paintings from the 13th-14th century survive at the main church and the altar area and are attributed to the painter Ioannis Tzen, who signs two of them. The marble screen, which was restored in the 1960s, dates from the beginning of the 13th century Nowadays it is a women’s cenobic monastery and it celebrates on the 29th of August.