Collection Name : Holy Metropolis of Thessaliotidos and Fanariofersalon
Category : Monastery
Year : c. 16th AD
Current Place : Korona
Description : In the eastern side of Pindos Mountain, overlooking Karditsa, 18 km west at an altitude of 800 meters is the monastery of the Crown, which is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin. The monastery was constructed c.1550 AD and the inauguration were done the Bishop Lavrentios. The church has the cruciform with a dome and semicircular (three-sided) sockets at the ends of the northern and southern parts of the cross, has the type of church name “athonitikos,”a type used for the Catholic monasteries in the middle Byzantine period and especially during the Turkish occupation. The monastery is structured around in an irregular rectangular shape, has floored cells with wooden shed, which 50 years ago were as high as 40. In the middle of this area there is the church of the monastery, consisting of a nave, narthex and attached to the northern wall of the church, the chapel of John the Baptist. The dome is supported by four round pillars ending in cylindrical arches and createthe internal shape of the cross. The sanctuary has tri-conch niches, sided and semi-hexagons. The narthex is divided into three parts, but without columns and therein differs from the Athonite type. The iconostasis is carved and ornate. The icons are of excellent craftsmanship, and testify the traditional Athonitiki Cretan style,according to Fotis Kontoglou reference. Outside the monastery a well preserved marble sculpture in relief bearing Kufic motifs of the 13th or 14th century exists. This may have been brought from the monastery of “Eleousas the Merciful.” The English traveller Leake writes about the monastery that was it very famous for its age and some icons were donated by a man named Kouskoula, which was the Imperial interpreter. The monastery is preserved today the skull of St. Seraphim in ornate silver reliquary. Previously the monastery had the name the: "Holy Monastery of “Cold Source" or The venerable monastery of the Cold Fountain," as it refers to the sequence of St. Seraphim of version 1802 and elsewhere. Named "the Crown", in the opinion of Ezekiel Thessaliotis, by the people, because from far away it seems to raise the rock and crowns the mountain like a crown. Professor Orlandos says that the name of the monastery might come from an incident of a forgotten tradition while the the monastery was constructed and is associated with the bird rook ( carrion ) , which lives in large flocks in Thessaly . The first owner (ktitoras) is Andrew Boone and second is named Apostolakis , which he wrote the history in 1739 of the chapel of John the Baptist . The great glory of the monastery owes more to a great priestly form , came from the monastery , the holy Martyr Archbishop Seraphim , who became a monk there around 1580. From the Korona, Kosmas of Aetolia passed by. The monastery was the base and refuge for the people from Agrafa in all the revolutionary movements that followed the great Greek Revolution and particularly the last from 1877 to 1878 . On April 2, 1878 the monastery deadly battle took place leading of the Immortal Vlasdo, resulting in the capture 200 Turk from Albania.
