The next destination is Iberian Monastery of Athos, or simply Iveron, in Greek it is called Μονή Ιβήρων [Moni Yviron].
Why such a name? Initially, a monastery was founded on this site in the 8th century under a different name, but in 980 AD. a group of monks from Iberia (present-day Georgia) came here under the leadership of John of Iberia, they expanded and strengthened the monastery. And after 1010, the monastery was named Iversky in their honor.
Okay, history later, but for now let's go back to today. ???? Reading Sergei's story:
Pilgrimage to Athos: Iberian Monastery
More than an hour on the bus we shake to Iveron, the fare is 7.5 euros per person. A pilgrim of about 30 years old from Rostov joined us tenth. He had already spent the night in Panteleimon, wanted to spend the night in Vatopeda, as I was refused, and again decided to return to Panteleimon.
Iveron, like Vatopedi, is located on the east coast of Athos right on the shore. Rather, it looks like a fortress, how many sieges has he seen in his history? Turks, Maltese, Spaniards, Arabs, pirates, you can't name them all… they stormed these majestic walls, the monasteries located next to the sea suffered the most troubles.
However, there were enough troubles for all the monasteries for 11 centuries, one Turkish rule was worth it. The main Shrine of Iveron is the Icon of the Iberian Mother of God, it is not kept in the main temple of the monastery, but in a small old church nearby. They opened it for us, we bowed to the Shrine, the main temple was also opened for us to worship ... there are the relics of many, many saints.
Then they walked around the monastery, deserted and the impression of severe asceticism. We met only an Orthodox novice from Albania, he was preparing firewood for the winter, in the lower huge arched corridor there were already hundreds of cubes in the woodpile ... Father Nikolai talked to him in Greek.
In Iveron, we could not linger for a long time, we still had a road to the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon (or also called New Rusik), and the time was already around 4 in the evening.
A bow to Iveron and again a bus, and again the road through the mountains, this time to the western coast of Athos. I will tell about St. Panteleimon in the next part ...
See all photos in the gallery (click on any):
A little more history. As Sergei correctly said, the main shrine of the monastery is the icon of Our Lady of Iberia, or the Gatekeeper (Gatekeeper). As the legend says, the icon was found in the sea. In the 11th century, Saint Gabriel of the Holy Mountain, having received in a dream the instructions of the Mother of God, descended from his skete and saw an icon in the sea, which was held by a pillar of fire. Saint Gabriel walked through the sea as if on dry land, and with honors brought the icon to the monastery.
She was placed on the holy pulpit, but the next morning she was found above the gates of the monastery. According to legend, the Mother of God said to the abbot: “I did not come for you to guard me. I have come to protect YOU." Several times the icon was found again at the entrance to the temple, and since then it has been called the Gatekeeper, in Greek Παναγία Πορταϊτισσα [Panagia PortaItissa].
On the face of the icon you can see a trace of a knife blow. Another story says that the icon was stabbed by a pirate. But when blood began to flow from the wound, the shocked pirate immediately repented, was baptized and remained a monk in the monastery. He took the name Varvaros (Barbarian), did not want any other. Died holy. Next to the icon on one of the frescoes there is an image of a figure dressed as a pirate with the inscription Ο Άγιος Βάρβαρος.
The icon and the monastery celebrate on the day of the Dormition of the Theotokos, a litany is held the day before. I found an amateur video recorded by one of the Greek pilgrims. Though not for long, but you can see the icon quite close. Eh, progress has gone far... Who worships, and who writes this business on a mobile phone... And you and I can look into the monasteries of Athos with one eye!
Iveron makes a strict, ascetic impression on the photo, nothing superfluous. The monastery has a huge and valuable library, and the largest number of relics of saints in comparison with other monasteries.
Tomorrow is the last monastery visited by Sergei and his comrades: St. Panteleimon, or Russian. Do not miss!
