FRIENDS OF MOUNT ATHOS BOOK REVIEWS

© 1994

Greek Traditional Architecture: Mount Athos. By Ploutarchos Theocharides et al. Athens: Melissa, 1992. Editions in Greek, German, and English. 72 pages. Numerous plates. Price p/b 2930 drachmas. No ISBN.

This book is one of a series of fascicules devoted to Greek traditional architecture between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries and will form part of a volume covering the whole province of Macedonia. The problem with the series as a whole is that the publishers do not appear to have identified a coherent market. On the one hand the glossy National Geographic Magazine-style colour photographs seem to be aimed at attracting a popular readership - not that there is anything wrong with that; but they sit uncomfortably alongside texts which are accompanied by the scholarly apparatus of footnotes, suggesting that a specialist audience is in mind. If so, it must be doubted whether the fare served up is sufficient to satisfy the tastes of the least exigent of scholars.

The consequences of attempting to nod in both directions at the same time are particularly unfortunate in the case of this volume, where even the very terms of reference are eccentric and illogical. All categories of the smaller-scale buildings such as the kellia and functional edifices like boathouses and landing installations are included, together with their chapels, but in the ruling monasteries and the larger sketes discussion is confined to that part of the complex loosely defined as the 'residence'. Thus major domestic buildings like the refectory, kitchens, and even the monastic cells are omitted. The inadequate scope of the book is compounded by the absence of clear editorial control which results in overlapping between the three contributors. It is made difficult to use by the numbering of illustrations in five sequences (one per chapter), by the fact that there is no index, and by the near-complete absence of colour-coded ground plans and elevations, the inclusion of which would have enabled the reader to grasp how the buildings evolved and were adapted over the centuries. Of the two plans we are privileged to enjoy, only one - for Chilandari (p. 14) - provides a chronological key.

The texts themselves are too brief to provide substantial information. For example, although the reader is informed (p. 27) that many of the nineteenth-century wings reveal that the architectural vocabulary of north-western Greece was used on the Holy Mountain, there is no exploration of the extent to which Athonite vernacular buildings of the post-Byzantine period conformed to regional patterns; nor is there any discussion of the relationship between the predominantly non-Greek establishments (Chilandari, St Panteleimonos, Zographou, and Prodromos, to name the most important) and architecture of the respective homelands. On an even more basic level, it would be instructive to have an indication as to how the monastic complexes of Athos differ in form and function from those of other monasteries in the Greek Orthodox world.

It is to be hoped that this publication does not preclude the full-length detailed study which is warranted by the laudable labours of the authors in surveying and recording the rich and diverse Athonite architectural heritage. The monastic buildings of the Holy Mountain exhibit significant variations in size and arrangement of apartments according to whether the establishment in the period under discussion was cenobitic or idiorrhythmic. In their present form they are also the result of development, alteration, and addition. The appearance of the monasteries today is determined to a very large extent by the large-scale alterations and enlargements undertaken between the mid-eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period of spiritual revival and expansion of numbers only briefly interrupted by the Greek War of Independence. Very few buildings - apart from the katholika of some of the monasteries - date from Byzantine times and not many from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Dionysiou's east wing of the first half of the sixteenth century is an exception), which is an important era as very few domestic buildings remain in modern Greece from these centuries. This enhances the value of earlier visual records, notably the Russian monk Barskij's illustrations of 1744 and the occasional photograph, e.g. of Philotheou before the 1871 fire and subsequent rebuilding (p. 30, pl. 35).

The process of evolution and change is unceasing. Many of the isolated kellia have been abandoned and are falling into decay; at the same time the increasing adoption of technology by the communities has meant that many of the ancient workshops and other buildings are no longer required for their original purpose. Above all, the current of revival on the Holy Mountain, however welcome in spiritual terms, poses a threat to the historic architectural heritage. The understandable rush to put the monasteries into a good state of repair after decades of neglect, to cater for the expanding numbers of both monks and visitors, and to provide facilities which seem to be expected in the late twentieth century have in some instances led to insufficient regard being paid to the ancient fabric and the use of inappropriate materials.

The Holy Mountain, of course, is not a 'theme park' and neither are the monasteries, kellia, and sketes museums. Nevertheless the buildings which house this unique community in its various facets, just as much as the icons, manuscripts, and other movable treasures, bear witness to the glorious tradition of Athonite spirituality of which the present and future generations are the heirs and guardians. It is essential that the highest standards of conservation and design are applied so that the historic fabric can be preserved and at the same time development and adaptation can take place in a way which recognizes the need to blend harmoniously the new with the old.

RICHARD MARKS

York