MONASTERY OF VLATADES
The Monastery of Vlatades or Vlattades or Vlatteis (Vlattaion), also known as Tsaous Monastery, is a monastery in the Upper Town of Thessaloniki, about 80 meters from the walls of Eptapyrgion. It is the only monastery of the Byzantine period of the city that still operates until today.
It was founded in the middle of the 14th century in a place that probably hosted an older temple, by the Cretan descent metropolitan of Thessaloniki Dorotheos Vlatis and his brother Marco. The first historical references to the Monastery of Vlatades were made in 1405 on the trail of the Russian traveler Ignatius of Smolensk. During the 15th century the monastery experienced great prosperity. After the fall of Thessaloniki, the Turks granted to the city some privileges, which were also ratified by an edict of Muhammad B in 1446. According to a 16th century tradition, this privileged treatment was due to the help that the monks of the city had offered to the Turks for the fall of the city. Moreover, some Ottoman-style buildings prove that Turks moved in the monastery in the 16th century. In 1633, with a Sigilio (official patriarchal document) of Patriarch Cyrillus Loukari, the Monastery of Vlatades was annexed as a glebe land in the Monastery of Iveron on Mount Athos. In 1801 the monastery was renovated, but in 1870 a fire destroyed part of it, including the library. The Ecumenical Patriarchate bore the expense of the damage.
Today the Monastery belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. From the original building only the sanctuary and a few other architectural elements are preserved. Near the katholikon (major temple) of the monastery, which is honored in the name of the Transfiguration of the Savior, there is a vaulted chapel of the 14th century with frescoes of the Palaiologo’s era. According to a local tradition, the monastery is built in the place where Apostle Paul preached or lived while staying in the city. There are 93 codes saved as well as the monastery archive, which during World War II was transferred for safety to the Iveron Monastery.
The Vlatades Monastery is at an altitude of approximately 120 meters and overlooks the city of Thessaloniki.
