History and present days
The Skete of the Dormition of Theotokos is united with the Monastery of Xylourgos, which was founded around 1030, when Father Theodoulos bought the land from the Skete of Saint Demetrios, which today belongs to the Vatopaidi Monastery. In 1143 it was transferred to the Russian abbot Christoforos and in 1169 to the fathers of the Monastery of Thessalonikeos (also known as Palaiomonastero). In 1312 its boundaries were defined in relation to the boundaries of the Vatopaidi Monastery. In 1340, Serbian monks have settled there, under the reign of Stefan Dusan. Until 1800, the skete functioned as a Bulgarian skete. In 1818, it was recognized as a cenobitic skete. It was the first one in the whole Mount Athos to be organized in that way.
As it was inhabited by Bulgarian and Scopian monks, the cenobitic church was dedicated to Saint John, the founder of the Rila Monastery.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the Skete suffered many disasters. Great fires broke out and the earthquake of 1905 provoked serious damage. After 1917, following the October Revolution, the Skete gradually began to decline. Only in recent years, the damage was restored by the monks of the Holy Monastery of Saint Panteleimon.
