ABSTRACT
From the perspective of the history of architecture, the peninsula of the Holy Mountain is an extremely valuable location, preserving, as it does, hundreds of old buildings and ruins of every description, and providing us with a fairly integrated sample of human activity over the last eleven centuries. Despite the great significance of this material for the study of Byzantine and post-Byzantine architecture, however, research into it is still in its first stages. Scientific publications are comparatively few and far between, and most of these are of a preliminary nature. Very few are based on systematic and in-depth investigation of the building complexes themselves and their evolution.1 In recent years, a series of studies has been presented by Professor Paul Mylonas on katholika and other major churches; these mainly discuss the issue of the origin and development of the Athonitetype church.2 At the same time, other research has begun to shed light on the older history of the building complexes - the vast masses of structures within the enclosures of the monastic foundations. This paper will attempt a comprehensive review of the issues we have studied in recent years in the field of monastic architecture in Byzantine and early post-Byzantine times. Material from forthcoming papers and research will also be presented.
