Brontochion Monastery

Brontochion Monastery (Greek: Βροντόχιον, Μονή Βροντοχίου) is a monastery in Mystras, Greece.

The abbot Pachomius incorporated into it the small church of the Hodegetria, or "Aphentikon", as the monastery's catholicon. The church was reconstructed and completed around 1310, with some scholars giving 1308-1312 as the construction dates and others 1310–1322. The despot Theodore I Palaiologos, who died in 1407, is buried here.

The Hodegetria Church is the first example of what's called the "Mystras type" design. The lower floor is a three-aisled basilica, whereas above is a traditional Byzantine cross-in-square church plan. The cross-in-square, five-domed gallery is encircled by a portico that has a belfry. There are also features more typical of Constantinople, such as the use of blind arches.

On the lower level the walls are covered by marble revetment, a luxurious feature, and there is also a surviving fresco of the Virgin Mary as Zoodochos Pege (Life-containing Source) in the lunette above the so-called royal door.

During Ottoman rule, the monastery was converted into a mosque.

See also

• History of Roman and Byzantine domes

References