The Monastery was founded about 1360 by the Vlatades brothers, Dorotheos and Markos, members of the intellectual circle gathered around the metropolitan of Thessalonike, Grigorios Palamas, later raised to sainthood.
Despite repairs, the surviving katholikon, a domed cruciform church, retains a number of the features of the original building. The unusually fine interior decoration, dating to the period 1360--80, is today a clear indication of the searching nature of painting in the second half of the 14th century.
Grigorios Palamas, who died in 1359, is portrayed in one of the wall-paintings as a saint. The free-hand drawing does not lay emphasis on dramatic action, but the entire work, imbued with stillness and tranquillity, succeeds in conveying the artless passion for theology of scholars such as Grigorios Palamas.
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