ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ - ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΗ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ | Page 144
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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