Kaisariani Monastery (Kessariani), Athens is one of the most well known and most frequently visited Tourist Attractions in Athens. Built on the north side of Mount Hymettus, Kaisariani Monastery (Kessariani), Athens was the most renowned and the richest among the series of monasteries built on the slopes of Mount Hymettus. During the time of the Macedonians, art and culture including architecture reached a never-before culmination and the Kaisariani Monastery was a fine example of this.
A high wall surrounds the buildings, the catholicon, the refectory, the bathhouse and the cells at the site of Kaisariani Monastery (Kessariani), Athens which seems to be in quite a good protected state. The monastery was built on the ruins of a lay building. The drawing plan of the monastery depicts the catholicon on the eastern side of the wall around the abbey, the bathhouse on the South side and the monks’ cells bordering it with the Benizelou tower and the refectory in the western wing. There are the monks’ cemetery and a newer church beside the vegetable garden on the southwestern side of the monastery.
The catholicon and the bathhouse are the original 11th century buildings and the narthex, the bell tower and the St-Anthony's chapel are additions after the Turkish occupation. The catholicon is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin to the Temple and has the basic cross shape typical of the Greek tradition. The external southern wall of the catholicon which now includes St. Anthony's chapel features the oldest fresco. It depicts of Madonna, turned to the left in prayer. The church and the narthex are decorated with frescoes which can be dated back to the Turkish Occupation.
The bathhouse of the Kaisariani Monastery (Kessariani), Athens is examples of 11th century architecture. A natural source is encircled by the buildings located on the left of the eastern entrance across from the south side of the catholicon. Covered by a semi-spherical cupola, it is supported by four pendentives. The refectory and the kitchen are set in a separate building on the western side of the wall across from the catholicon. The refectory is a long rectangular shaped vaulted room which is divided into two sections. The kitchen on the south side of the refectory is square in shape with a vaulted roof.
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