THE 'HOLY POWER' METOHI OF PENDELI MONASTERY
Metohi: A monastery dependency (off the monastery's area) with a small
church, cell and auxiliary rooms for the Metohari (monk or priest-monk)
which occupies it each time taking care of it, officiating it, cultivating
and maintaining it.
The 'HOLY POWER’ a single-aisle basilica with an arch, was built in the 16th
century, possibly on the relics of a temple which honored the most
celebrated hero (first demigod and then god) of the Greek mythology, namely
HERCULES, son of Zeus and Alkmene, wife of Amphitryon: "his weakness? HIS
POWER!..". The church was known both as Metohi of Rodakio (the name of the
neighbourhood) and Mcntelitissa (corruption of Pendeli to Mendeli). The name
'Holy Power' relates to Virgin Mary as a protector of confined women, and
for this reason the church celebrates on the 8th of September, date of
Virgin Mary's birth. History, however, gave another, allegoric meaning to
the name 'Holy Power': this small church supported with sheer POWER the
Greek fighters during the years of the Greek Revolution of 182:1.
Thus, the name 'Holy Power' of the church honoring Virgin Mary's Birth was
established and acknowledged by the people as: 1) the power of the
mythological hero Hercules, 2) the power which the confined woman acquires
from the icon of Virgin Mary's Birth, in order to give birth to her child,
3) the power of the Greek fighter during the revolution of 1821 and 4)
today, in our day of impoverishment, slackness, corrosion, breakup, decay,
reek, defilement and pollution (family, social, spiritual, moral,
environmental, atmospheric) the 'Holy Power' represents the POWE of the
soul, a spiritual empowerment, a moral resistance of every devout and humble
pilgrim.
During the Greek Revolution of 1821, in a small house within the Metohi and
near the church of the Holy Power, the famous pyrotechnic Mastropavlis was
making ammunition for the Turks who were fortified in the Castle. However,
only a small amount of this ammunition reached the Turks, the amount which
was fabricated in a very slow pace during the day. The greatest amount was
made during the night in a hectic pace, and was received in the morning
secretly by lady Manolaina Biniari, inside her laundry coffin. She took the
coffin to Ilissos river, at the Kalliroe source. From there, the gunpowder
and the cartridges were transferred by trusted people to Menidi, where the
revolutionaries were gathered for the rebellion of the 25th of April 1821.
Inside the Metohi, in the 'Pendeli hide', the church fathers concealed the
Monastery's valuable items during the invasion of Omer Vryonis in southern
Greece. But the Turks discovered the hide, apparently through a secret
informant, and destroyed all the holy vessels, canonicals, holy remains, the
Monastery's proprietary documents, Sultan firmans and Patriarchical
documents.
But the revolutionary power which the Metohi provided didn't stop here. It
was channeled through many roads, some of them secret Under the churches
High Altar there is a descending ladder. In a depth of 15 metres there
exists a large subterranean area, like a cave. During the years of the
revolution, the Monastery's monks used this space as a laboratory for
fabricating gunpowder, bullets and cartridges. Through a gallery, they
transferred the ammunition to a place near today's shooting ground of
Kesariani, where it was received by peasants with mules and taken to the
Fighters.
This area under the altar of the Holy Power and the corresponding gallery,
mark a previous existence of underground life. The walls are decorated with
old murals and carved images of birds, vine leaves, and angels holding
swords. It seems that this was a worship area. Small pillars, broken or
fallen on the ground, push the date even further to the past, in ancient
times, perhaps even to the temple of Hercules.
The existence of ancient details is characteristic tomany of the churches
during the Turkish occupation, since for their construction they used parts
of older temples, ancient or, later, Christian. The external door of the
Holy Power has a marble frame with Christian symbols.
The church is an example of the architecture during the Turkish occupation:
a small size, single aisle basilica with a wooden roof, for the tiling of
which large concave courses and tubular covers were used.
The view of the church is circular. At the eastern side, three semi-circular
arcs can be seen. The central one is bigger and stands out, while the other
two, which arc smaller, are traced within the wall.
The windows are narrow, like loopholes, and the door lies in the center of
the western wall in a marble frame, as aforementioned. The pilgrim who
enters sees on the northern wall (starting from the entrance and towards the
altar) the murals of Saint Marina, Saint Irene, Saint Demetrius, Saint
Dionisius and Saint lerotheos. In the southern wall (starting from the altar
and towards the exit) there are the murals of Saint Filothei, the
decapitation of Saint John, Saint Catherine and Saint Kyriaki.
In 1963, the church was restored internally and externally. The wooden roof
and the tiles were repaired, the outside plaster was replaced, the area in
front of the entrance was shaped, a wooden eaves was placed over the door
and a single-lobe steeple was constructed at the northern wall. The
maintenance and the restoration of the murals and the church's temple were
undertaken by a team headed by the painter-restorer T. Margaritoff.
f. ARCHMANDRITE GREGORIOS CHR. TERZIS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Archaeological bulletin, Volume 17 (1961/62), Athens (1963)
2. Archaeological bulletin, Volume 18 (1963), Athens (1965)
3. Archaeological bulletin, Volume 21 (1966), Athens (1968)
4. Giannopoulos loannis, Secret Athens and Attika, Esoptron publications,
Athens
(1960)
5. Kambouroglou G.D., Old Athens, Athens
6. Maltezou G., Turkish Occupation Monuments in Athens, Charal. Spanos
publications, Athens (1960)
7. Micheli Liza, Innominate Athens, Govostis publications, Athens
8. Sisidianos Dlmitrios, Old and New Athens, Volumes I and II, Aetos
publications,
Athens (1953)
9. Fefes Theoklitos Archimandrite, The Holy Power. Pendeli Monastery. Athens
(1972)
