History and present days
The Holy Monastery of Docheiariou is located along a rocky coastline. On the slopes, at the beginning of the beach, in the location of Platani, there is an olive grove. The renovated building on the beach is the one of All Saints, surrounded by vineyards belonging to the Monastery of Docheiariou. Beyond All Saints there lies the Kalligrafos gully. In the hinterland, there used to be the small monastic community of Kalligrafos, which was eventually incorporated into the Monastery of Docheiariou.
The latter is built on a sloping hillside, with successive balconies and terraces that soften the sense of fortification suggested by the imposing tower and the defensive buttress at the southwest corner. Facing the sea, a ceramic inscription can be discerned within the masonry. The complex of the arsanas extends to the beach and is independent of the main architectural complex. It consists of three buildings, the large arsanas in the center, which includes a tower with the monks' living spaces on the upper floors, the small arsanas to the left, with its ground floor used as a boathouse and the first floor as a workshop, and a two-story workhouse to the right of the large arsanas, dating to the first half of the 18th century. A wide covered porch runs along its facade, supported by stonework with successive arches. Next to it, there is a fountain.
The floor plan of the monastery forms an irregular pentagon, with its wings dating from various building phases. The lower part of the west wing and a part of the north wing date to the 11th or early 12th century. The south wing was renovated at the beginning of the 17th century, while the northeast wing was completed in the 18th century.
History
In a document from 1038, the Monastery of Docheiariou is referred to as the Monastery of Saint Nicholas, Docheiariou and Daphne. The second name relates to its founder, Saint Euthymius, who had served as a companion to Saint Athanasios the Athonite and as economos in the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra.
The third name refers to the monastery's original location, which was on a hill above the port of Daphne, at the beginning of the road to Simonopetra. In 1044, the monastery was raided and destroyed by Agarene pirates. Saint Euthymius and the surviving monks initially relocated to a mountainous area higher than the present monastery position, which they soon purchased from the Monastery of Xenophontos. The monastery's name changed to "Monastery of the Archangels (Michael and Gabriel)," as attested by the signature of its abbot in the Typikon of Emperor Constantine Monomachos (1045/6), where it is listed as the 24th community in the Athonite hierarchy.
The monastery received financial support from the Empress Eudocia, wife of Constantine X Doukas, as well as from her sons, Andronikos Doukas, Emperor Michael VII Parapinakes (1071-1078) and Romanos IV Diogenes. In 1078, Saint Euthymius' nephew, Patrician Nicholas, arrived at the monastery. He became a monk under the name Neophytos and succeeded Euthymius as abbot. According to various documents, the Monastery of Docheiariou flourished during its first three centuries. In the 14th century, it faced difficulties that were overcome by the support of the Emperor John V Palaiologos and the Serbian ruler Stefan Dušan. It was during this time that the Monastery of Kalligrafos passed to Docheiariou.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the monastery was deserted. It was restored in 1568 under the care of the priest George from Adrianople, who was miraculously healed by drinking water from the holy spring of the Archangels. He later became a monk under the name Germanos. The renovation was funded by the ruler of Moldavia, Alexander Lăpușneanu, and his wife Roxandra, who took back the monastic land that had been occupied by the Ottomans.
The general supervision of the renovation was entrusted to the former bishop of Moldovlachia, Theophanes, who, after resigning, became a resident of the monastery. After the suppression of the 1821 revolution in Chalkidiki, the monastery was looted by the Ottomans, who took all the treasures from its sacristy. For centuries, the monastery was under a peculiar administrative status, before transitioning into a cenobitic community in 1980 under the guidance of the Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I. After that, it was repopulated by its current monastic brotherhood.
Apart from the priest George and the bishop Theophanes, the monastery has been home for long or short periods to John the Martyr, a forerunner of the hesychasts who became a martyr during the Latin rule (13th century), and his disciple, Hosiomartyr Gregory. Other notable figures include Saint Germanos Maroulis, the holy young Hosiomartyrs Iakovos (Didymoteicho, 1520), Romanos (Byzantium, 1694), Gerasimos the Young (Constantinople, 1812) and Euthymios the Peloponnesian (1814). In the monastery's dependency in Sliven, Bulgaria, there lived the holy neomartyr Demetrios (†1841).
The Miracle of the Archangels
During the tenure of the abbot Neophytos (11th century), in the monastery's metochion in Sykia, Sithonia, there was a column with a bust of a man and an inscription. Those who hit the head of the bust came away empty-handed. However, one day at sunrise, a young worker named Basil dug at the spot where the shadow of the bust fell and discovered a treasure of gold coins. He reported the discovery to the abbot, who sent three monks to retrieve the treasure. However, the monks, overcome by greed, sought to keep the gold for themselves. They bound Basil hand and foot, tied a stone around his neck, and threw him into the sea. By returning to the monastery, they told the abbot that the treasure was a myth.
That same night, the monk who took care of the katholikon found the young worker, still bound with the stone, lying on the floor of the church. Basil recounted that two eagles with golden wings had lifted him from the depths of the sea and brought him there. He later became a monk, taking the name Barnabas, and eventually was attributed the position of the abbot of the monastery. The greedy monks were sent to a remote cell to live out their days in penance.
The refectory is unusually large and richly decorated. Its frescoes, painted in 1568, like those of the main church, follow the 
Opposite the entrance of the katholikon, there is a corridor that leads to the trapeza. To the right of the corridor, there lies the shrine of Theotokos Gorgoepikoos. According to tradition, around 1664, the monk Nilus, who was responsible for the trapeza and who frequently passed by the fresco carrying lit torches from the kitchen, heard the Virgin Mary’s voice saying, "For how long will you spot my image with smoke?" When he ignored the warning, he suddenly lost his sight. Falling to his knees, he prayed fervently, so that his sight was soon restored as he heard her voice again: "I am the Virgin Mary Gorgoepikoos of the monastery and I quickly respond to those who call upon my name." The passageway was enclosed and the shrine was located in the same spot. In 1873, a silver and gold cover was donated for the icon. However, the face opening did not align with the fresco’s image. As a result, the face was painted on canvas and fitted onto the precious cover. Before the mural, there are numerous candles burning continuously. Since the fresco is located on the west wall, a separate chapel dedicated to Theotokos Gorgoepikoos was built in 1723 on the opposite side of the corridor so that its sanctuary would face to the east. The chapel, covered in frescoes from 1744, has an iconostasis crafted in 1760 by the monk Raphael from the Monastery of Simonopetra..jpg)
