Iviron monastery
Encyclopedia
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Ιερα Μονή Ιβήρων, Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
: ივერთა მონასტერი) is an Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
at the monastic state of Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. The monastery was built under the supervision of Ioannes the Iberian and Tornikios
Tornikios
T'ornike also known as Tornikios or Thornikios was a retired Georgian general and monk who came to be better known as a founder of the formerly Georgian Orthodox Iviron Monastery on Mt Athos in the modern-day northeastern Greece....
between 980
980
Year 980 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Otto II renounces his claim to Lorraine.* The Viking ring castle of Trelleborg is constructed in Denmark....
-983
983
Year 983 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Wood carvers commissioned by China's Song Dynasty complete a carving of the entire Buddhist canon for printing .* The reign of Amir Adhad ad-Dowleh of Buwayhid ends.* Sharaf ad-Dawla becomes Amir Buwayhid.* The...
AD and housed Iberian
Caucasian Iberians
Caucasian Iberians was a Greco-Roman designation for ancient Georgians, Ibero-Caucasian people who inhabited the east and southeast of the Transcaucasus region in prehistoric and historic times...
clergy and priests.
In the past, part of the monastery's Iberian monks, were Chalcedonian Armenians
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
The monastery ranks third in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. The library of Iviron monastery contains 2000 manuscripts, 15 liturgical scrolls, and 20,000 books, most of which are in Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
, Greek, Hebrew and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
.
The name Iviron originated from the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...
(Iveria) where the master architect of the monastery Ioannes was from.
The monastery has the relics of more canonized saints than any other on Mount Athos. The Panagia Portaitissa
Panagia Portaitissa
The Panagia Portaitissa or Theotokos Iverskaya is an Eastern Orthodox icon of Virgin Mary. The original of this image is found in the Georgian Iviron monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where it is believed to have been since the year 999...
, a famous 9th century icon, is also located at Iviron.
The monastery has about 30 working monks and novices.
Notable people
- TornikiosTornikiosT'ornike also known as Tornikios or Thornikios was a retired Georgian general and monk who came to be better known as a founder of the formerly Georgian Orthodox Iviron Monastery on Mt Athos in the modern-day northeastern Greece....
(died 985) - John the IberianJohn the IberianJohn the Iberian was a Georgian monk, who is venerated as a saint. A member of the Georgian nobility, he was married and served as a military commander. However, he later became a monk in Bithynia and then traveled to Constantinople to rescue his son, Euthymius the Illuminator...
(died c. 1002) - Euthymius of AthosEuthymius of AthosEuthymius the Athonite was a renowned Georgian philosopher and scholar, also known as Eufimius the Abasgian or St. Euthymius the Georgian...
(c. 955-1028) - George the HagioriteGeorge the HagioriteGeorge the Hagiorite – Giorgi Mt'ats'mindeli or Giorgi At'oneli – , was a Georgian monk, religious writer, and translator, who spearheaded the activities of Georgian monastic communities in the Byzantine Empire...
(1009-1065)