Xenophontos and Pantokrator -- interiors

Today, I will be focusing on interiors at Xenophontos and the second monastery we stayed at: Pantokrator.  It seems appropriate to begin with the interiors of the churches.  The photos are Frank's since I refrained from taking pictures during services, which was generally the only time the churches were open.  First, however, is a basic plan found at  http://stanthonysorthodox.org/inside_orthodox_church.php





























The churches I visited had many more candles and oil lamps.  The horos, too, had candles on it and surrounded a central chandelier with yet more candles.  Very few were ever lit except during major observances and never all except at Easter.  Here is the interior of the new church at Xenophontos:

You will notice that it is ornate, with lots of color and gilding. This is a view down the nave to the templon, which is usually called the iconostasis because of all the icons on it.  This picture is from 2013, and Frank must have been let into the church in broad daylight and used a flash.  The usual experience of such a space is of dimmer light from the windows and a few lit oil lamps and candles.

This is at Pantokrator during an actual service.  (I will talk more about services in a later post.)  The white things you see hanging from the horos are ostrich eggs, which symbolize the resurrection.

There is a lot of painting on the interior walls of the churches and associated buildings.  Here, for example is one wall of a small chamber between the old church at Xenophontos and the trapeza (dining hall).  The scenes are mostly apocalyptic.  The trapeza walls are painted as well, but I will show that in a future post about dining.

This is a monk's cell at Pantokrator, where Frank and I were allowed to stay with the monks.  The rooms are small and simple, but comfortable enough except for the thinness of the single mattresses.  We were supplied with two each.  All the cells and guest rooms have two or more icons in them.  The windows you see open into the bathroom--for ventilation I suppose.  I forgot to take a picture inside, but they too are small.  They have the basics except for a bathtub or shower stall.  You just shower in the middle of the bathroom, which has a drain in the floor, and then use a long-handled squeegee to help remove the water.

OK, this is not exactly an interior, but we spent a lot of time on the balcony at Xenophontos since it was cooler until the sun came around.  Here is Frank with Ephrem, a young Serbian-American studying to be an orthodox priest in the US at Holy Cross, and Father Zosimas, an American-born monk and purveyor of iced tea.  There will be more on him in future posts.