When Bishop Timothy of Evia visited Mount Penteli in 1578, he found dozens of monks living in poorly maintained buildings with dozens more living in caves on the side of the mountain. With backing from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and financial assistance from a wealthy Athenian family, he acquired land on the south side of the mountain. The land was the site of a 10th-century monastery destroyed by the Ottomans in 1465. Bishop Timothy and the local monks constructed a new, larger monastery surrounded by tall walls and large wooden…
