Skete of the Holy Trinity (Kausokalyvia)

History and present days

Passing by the church of Saint Christopher, we have a panoramic view of the Caucasus Mountains. The name of the place is associated with the famous hermit, Hosius Maximus Kausokalyvitis.

In front of it, there is the islet of Daskalio, which is associated with Father Gabriel, a pilgrim who spent his whole life there. His skull with the inscription "Father Gabriel the Daskaliotic" is in the Skete's ossuary. On the rock located on the left, at an altitude of 60 m above sea level, there is the cave where Saint Niphon (1315-1411), a fellow practitioner and first biographer of Saint Maximus, used to live. The staircase of Kausokalyvia is located next to a series of sea caves that impress the visitor with their perfect symmetry. Seals are often found there, coming from the Sporades Marine Park, since the area is a fishing ground. In 1872 the pier and the port-house for the ship, which had been bought by the monks of the Skete, were built and repaired. The expenses were covered by common funds. Each monk contributed 15 groats and personal labor.

An uphill, difficult path with many steps leads from the staircase to the Skete, whose huts are spread out on the left and right slopes of a ravine. Low down on the left slope, which hosts the newest part of the Skete, there is the hut of All Saints in a dilapidated state, with its half-preserved blue painted dome. At the opening of the ravine to the sea, there is the pier of the Kalyve of Ioasaphaioi, which used to have its own ship. The path from the pier of Ioasaphaioi leads to the eastern side of the Skete.

Saint Maximus the Kausokalyvitis († c. 1356)

He was born in Lampsacus of Hellespont. He lived as a monk first on Mount Ganos in Thrace and then in the Monastery of Great Lavra. At the urging of Theotokos he climbed to the top of Athos. He stayed there for three days and nights fighting demons. It was then that he saw the Virgin Mary in a vision. She gave him to eat heavenly bread and told him to continue his monastic life lower in Mount Athos. After that vision, the Saint followed the life of all saints who died for Jesus Christ, he made grass huts to live in and from time to time burned them to settle elsewhere. That’s where the name Kausokalyvia comes from, since “kausi” means “burning” in Greek. He met and discussed a lot with the great teacher of mental prayer, Saint Gregory of Sinai, who persuaded him to stay somewhere permanently so that the monks could benefit from his virtues. He deserved to have the providential gift, by which he helped all sinners. He revealed the hiding places of their souls and foretold the things to come. Thus, when the co-emperors John VI Kantakouzenos (1347-54) and John V Palaiologos (1341-91) went to visit him, he foretold them of the civil war (1347-52) which soon afterwards divided the Byzantine Empire. The Athonite Fathers considered him a great spiritual leader and honored him as a saint soon after his death. His is commemorated on 13/1.

Hermitage Guide

The Skete was founded in the 18th century by the famous ascetic monk Akakios (1630-1730) from the village of Golitsa in Agrafa, who originally lived in the Monastery of Survia, in Makrinitsa of Volos. He settled in the area and he lived an ascetic life in a cave. He often rubbed stones and ate the dust with dry grass. When he prayed, many ascetics saw flames coming out of his mouth. The ascetics who gathered around him suffered from lack of water, but Saint Akakios prayed and found (above the Katholikon of the present day) a spring, the Holy Spring of Saint Akakios, where water gushed from three points "to the glory of the Holy Trinity". Since then, the growth of the skete has been rapid. The original Kyriakon of the skete was on the site where the cemetery church is today located and was full of frescoes. There the monk Hosiomartyr Romanos from Karpenisi (†1694, Κonstantinople), the first of a series of new martyrs who settled in Kausokalyvia, became a monk. He is considered to be a co-founder of the Skete because he supported and assisted Saint Akakios to remain in this harsh and wild place.

An early account and description of the skete is given by the Russian traveler monk Vasil Grigorovich-Barsky (1725): "I arrived in the area known as Kausokalyvia. The place is arid, barren and in the summer it is very hot. The monks live separately. Each has a small chapel in his cell for daily prayers. However, on Sundays and feast days, they all gather in a large common church and hold a vigil. The monks do not have gardens or fruit trees. They chose to live this way for Christ. Their cells are built on the dry rocky ground, within cliffs and ravines, on rocks above the sea, like nests made by wild birds. They sustain themselves through their handiwork: one makes crosses, another wooden spoons. I stayed there with an elder monk, the first among them, named Akakios. He is well known all throughout the Mount Athos for his pious life. He is the foremost of the ascetics. I heard that he has received the gift of foresight."

Apart from Saint Romanos, the new martyrs Nikodimos (†1722, Elbasan), Pachomios (†1730, Uşak), and Konstantine of the Hagarenes (†1819, Κonstantinople) also lived in Kavsokalyvia. In the depiction of the martyrdom of Saint Konstantine the New Martyr in the narthex of the Κyriakon, a cleric is depicted next to the new martyr, who is likely to be identified as the Righteous Gabriel, who served as his anointer.

Kavsokalyvia produced prominent figures of monasticism, such as the deacon Neophytos the Peloponnesian, originally Jewish (1713-1784), who served as the headmaster of the Athonite Academy and compiled the “Eclogue of the Psalter”, the first book printed on Mount Athos (1759) at the printing house of Great Lavra. In the skete, well known and melodious chanters flourished, such as Monk Maximus (†1955) from Bursa in Asia Minor. There were also famous woodcarving monks of the Nicodemite Brotherhood, led by Elder Arsenios (†1956), whose "Crucifixion" (a ten-year work) is now in the synod hall of the Monastery of Great Lavra.

High on the right slope, in a ruined state, there is the Kalyve of the Akathist Hymn. A little lower there is the Kalyve of the Dormition of Theotokos, better known as the Kalyve of Saint Akakios. It is built above the cave of Saint Maximus the Kavsokalyvitis, where Saint Akakios also remained. Above the entrance of the chapel, there is a fresco depicting the Virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ as a child. The chapel is fully frescoed. On the northern wall, Saint Symeon the New Theologian is depicted (possibly the earliest surviving depiction of him). In a reliquary in front of the sanctuary doors there are preserved the relics of Saint Akakios, while his skull is kept in the Kyriakon (the main church) of the skete. A fresco inside the sanctuary depicts Saint Mark of Ephesus trampling on the Pope at the Council of Florence (1439), in a manner similar to Saint Peter of Alexandria trampling on the heresiarch Arius. The Kalyve is inhabited by the iconographer Monk Patapios.

On the same slope of the ravine, stands the Kalyve of Saint John the Theologian. It was built by Hieromonk Paisios the Lesbian, who became the abbot of Xenophontos Monastery (1784). Later, it was embellished by his disciple Theokletos Karatzas (†1777), a member of the well-known Phanariot family, who had served as Grand Interpreter of the Ottoman Empire. During the Russo-Turkish War (1767), the Russian admiral Orlov forcibly took him as an interpreter (he knew six languages). The frescoes of the church (1776) were painted by the Monk Mitrophanes from Chios. The Kalyve later became a center for Zealot monks.

Directly above the Kalyve of Saint John the Theologian, there stands the Kalyve of Saint Panteleimon, where Elder Panteleimon, a woodcarver, currently resides. His entourage includes Hieromonk Maximos, an iconographer and historian of the Skete. The learned monk and philologist Philotheos of Smyrna (1807-1865) and the ascetic Monk Nikodemos (1807-1867) also lived in this Kalyve.

On the left slope lies the Kalyve of Saint Methodius of Konstantinople. Here, the monk and writer Methodius the Byzantine (†1811) used to live. He was a special case of a monk, since he was at risk of being expelled from the Skete for being beardless. While praying with tears before the icon of the Dormition of Theotokos, a miraculous beard grew on his face, so long that it dragged on the ground.

A little lower there is the Kalyve of Saint George, better known as the Kalyve of the Ioasaphaioi, which housed the iconographic workshop of the brotherhood. The famous iconographic workshop began in Kerasia. Later, it relocated to Kavsokalyvia (1882). During the 1920s, part of it moved to Karyes and settled in the cell. The Kalyve's church was rebuilt on the site of the older Church of the Ascension and was consecrated in 1887 by the Patriarch Joachim III. The icons of the Ioasaphaioi followed the Renaissance style, which was very popular in Mount Athos at that time due to Russian influence. The young painter Nikephoros Lytras, who worked as a stonemason on the construction of the Kalyve’s church (1880-86), created a sketch of Saint George (barely discernible) in a natural rock hollow near the Kalyve's pier.

The Ioasaphaioi workshop became a magnet for many artists and scholars, especially during the first half of the 20th century. However, comparing this movement to the corresponding pilgrimage of Russian thinkers and writers of the Optina Monastery is not entirely accurate. In Optina, pilgrims went to meet charismatic elders, while visitors to the Kalyve primarily regarded the brotherhood as artists. Notable names such as Moraitidis, Sikelianos, Kazantzakis, Kontoglou, Regos, Pentzikis, and Tachtsis are all mentioned in the guest book.

“Here, life, outside the strict forms of the monastery, takes on a more congenial form; you can easily imagine the monastic robes suddenly becoming tunics, and the "blessings" don't feel out of place—you find yourself in an environment reminiscent of a Platonic Academy—there aren't even any olive trees missing. However, such thoughts are profane to the pious monks, and I began to write a few words not to upset them, but to thank them for offering their hospitality indiscriminately to believers—and unbelievers like myself.” Kostas Tachtsis, 20.8.1956 [entry in the guest book].

Above the Kalyve of Ioasaphaioi, there is the Kalyve of the Ananaioi, whose church, originally dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, was later dedicated to Saint Eustathios. The Kalyve’s church (1767-68) was built by the architect Monk Pachomios from Chios, who also constructed the Church of Saint Andrew (Serai) in Karyes on behalf of the Patriarch Seraphim II. Like the church of Saint Andrew, the Kalyve’s church is rich in Baroque elements and scholarly architecture.

The present main church (Kyriakon) of the Skete (dedicated to the Holy Trinity) was built in 1745. It is fully adorned with frescoes and features an exquisite wood-carved iconostasis. Above the entrance from the vestibule to the main church, there is a depiction of the Holy Trinity. On the left and right of the entrance, there are icons of Jesus Christ the Pantokrator and Theotokos Eleousa (12th century). In the dome, instead of the traditional Pantokrator, Theotokos is depicted as Platytera. The church's frescoes feature many saints of Kavsokalyvia. A rare portable icon of the Last Judgment is kept in the vestibule. In 1804, the proceeds from a fundraiser allowed the construction of the vestibule of the Kyriakon. The frescoes in the vestibule (1820) are work of the painter Mitrophanes from Byzo in Thrace (Byziia, the birthplace of Georgios Byziinos), who also painted the Katholikon of the Zograf Monastery (1817). The depiction of the Last Judgment on the western wall is impressive, while many neomartyrs are also depicted on the other walls. The bell tower is a standalone structure built in 1897—financed by the Patriarch Joachim III, who often retreated to Kavsokalyvia during his time at Mount Athos. Next to the Kyriakon, there is the guesthouse, which is undergoing a thorough renovation and the cemetery church (1915). The cemetery was the resting place of Elder Porphyrios (†1991) before his relics were exhumed. Elder Porphyrios became a monk and lived his monastic life in the Kalyve of Saint George. For 33 years, he served as a chaplain and spiritual father at the Athens Polyclinic. He was a saintly figure and a gifted elder who was granted the gift of foresight.

“‘In Mount Athos, children are not allowed. You are too young, and they are forbidden from letting you come. But don't worry. We'll tell a little lie and God will forgive us. Before His eyes, it won't be a lie; it will be the truth because you love Christ and you want to go to Mount Athos to worship Him. So, if anyone asks you, ‘Who is this Elder to you?’ you will say, ‘He is my uncle.’ And I will say that you are my nephew, my sister's child.’ We arrived at the pier in Daphne. We got off the boat. The Elder moved a bit away to place his bags down. At that moment, a tall man, with a red fez and a black tassel on his head, grabbed me and threw me back onto the boat that was leaving to bring more monks.

- What are you doing here? he said to me. Children are not allowed! Go back to the boat. Leave!

I was crying—the boat began to sail away, but at that moment, my Elder noticed my absence and started to run and shout:

- Stop, bring the child back, he is with me!

The boat turned back. I was freed.”

From the Life and Sayings of Elder Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia, 2003.

The saintly Elder always emphasized that his entry into Mount Athos at such a young age was an extraordinary and rare event, a miraculous intervention of God's providence and grace in his life.