Third Wave Travel - The Byzantine Empire - The Monasteries of Dafni and Osios Loukas

The Monastery of Dafni

On the Athens-Corinth road, 20 kms from Athens is the Dafni Monastery.

It stands on the site of a temple to Apollo Dafnios. Dafni is the greek word for the laurel tree. According to the myth Dafni was a beautiful nymph, daughter of Gaia (Earth) and the river Ladon. Apollo fell in love with her but Dafni didn’t want him, so she asked her mother Gaia for help.

Suddenly the earth swallowed her up. Dafni disappeared. In her place the laurel tree sprouted. Apollo made it his sacred plant. His temple was surrounded by laurel trees. The monastery was built on the ancient sanctuary of Apollo in the 5th century AD. The domed Byzantine church we see nowadays belongs to the 11th century.

It was decorated with mosaics of remarkable delicacy of line and colouring. After the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders, Attica passed under the domination of the Franks. Otto de la Roche, the first Frankish Duke of Athens gave it to the Cistercians monks of Burgundy, who made some additions to the church. The tombs of the Dukes of Athens were placed here.

The monastery of Dafni is a very attractive site to visit in order to see its architecture as well as its wonderful decoration.

Tne Monastery Of Osios Loukas

On the western slopes of Mt Elikon with a glorious view over a peaceful valley of corn fields and olive groves is the monastery of Osios Loukas, one of the best known Byzantine monasteries in Greece.

The founder of the monastery, a monk called Loukas, was born in Delphi. He showed an inclination toward the ascetic life when he was very young. At the age of 14 he became a monk and thirty-five years later he settled at the site where his monastery stands today. He was known to have healing and prophetic abilities. His reputation attracted other hermits to the place.

The monastery now consists of two large churches and other buildings as a crypt, the refectory, the bell tower and cells with ancillary rooms. It is protected by an enclosure wall with towers at the corners. The church of Osios Loukas was built in the first half of the 5th century. The main feature is the huge dome that leaves the main area unified and unbroken. The church was decorated with mosaics in the 11th century, set against a gold background. The figures are sober, expressive with large, ecstatic eyes. The mosaics of Osios Loukas are masterpieces of Byzantine art.

The dome is decorated with murals of the 17th century which replaced the fallen mosaics. The wealth and quality of the decorative materials used in the paved marble floors, the wall revetments, the brilliant mosaics and the wall-paintings will convince you that this is one of the most important monuments of the Byzantine period.