Dafni Monastery: A splendid monument of the Middle Byzantine period

One thing is for sure: it is the most prominent monument of Middle Byzantine Attica, the costly construction of which is most likely attributed to the imperial court.

Dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, the katholikon, a typical example of the 11th century continental octagonal church type, rises in the centre of the complex, while the remains of numerous auxiliary buildings (refectory, underground cistern, bathhouse, cell wings) from different construction phases are scattered around it, surrounded by a fortification wall reinforced by towers and battlements.

Although the monastery was used as a garrison – a shelter for rebels and a powder magazine during the 1821 Revolution, and, later, a public psychiatric hospital – the deep spirituality of the place remains unspoilt; it is this spirituality that is captured most profoundly in the renowned wall mosaics of the katholikon, with figures recalling Classical and Hellenistic forms, and with the Pantocrator dominating the imposing dome.