ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ - ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΗ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ | Page 144

144 Helladic monastery is the Dormition of the Virgin at Skripou in Boiotia (873). The 6th century dating of Daphni was based upon the sculpture, as well as some of the buildings and the fortification. However, the sculpture may easily fit into the Middle Byzantine (843-1204) trends, while the existence of an early basilica is simply an assumption. Nonetheless, the lack of excavation data leaves the dating issue open. The Daphni Monastery in the 11th and 12th century The site today reflects the acme of the 11th and 12th century. The stylistic analysis of architecture and decoration places Daphni around 1080. The donor is unknown but the monumentality and elaborateness of the buildings points towards Constantinople, namely a high official or even the Emperor. Daphni has been connected to Basil II, Slayer of the Bulgars (976-1025), who admired Athens and visited the town in 1018 after his vistory against the Bulgarians. Nonetheless, Daphni is actually later, i.e. contemporary with Basil’s successors. Regardless of the identity of the donor, the monastery is part of a general building frenzy in Athens between the 10th and 12th century, resulting in about forty functioning churches in the town. Daphni, which is described in detail below, featured a strong wall, an impressive catholicon of a composite octagonal type with high quality mosaics, cells and auxilliary buildings, e.g. refectory and cooking areas, baths, library etc, catering for the needs of the monks. The Daphni Monastery and the Cistercian monks (1207-1458) A bilobe window at the Daphni Monastery catholicon (Christianiki Archaeologia tis Monis Daphniou, p. 82). In 1204 Athens was fiercely sacked by the Franks of Boniface de Montferrat and became the feud of Otto de la Roche from Burgundy. He gave Daphni to the Cistercian monks from the Bellevaux abbey in Burgundy, in 1207. Cistercians are an austere branch of the Benedictines, formed in 1098 by Robert in Citeaux, a city in Burgundy. They actively participated in the Crusades and were probably given Daphni as a reward. Orthodox monks had to leave and the Cistercians stayed for two and a half centuries, unaffected by the Catalan (1311- 1388) and then Florentine occupations (1387-1458). They only were expelled by the Ottomans of Mehmed II, when the monastery became orthodox again. Frankish documents and inscriptions mention the monastery, which is also supposed to have been the duchal burial place. The duchal mausoleum was assumed to have