The Hilandariou Monastery is a Serbian monastery located on the north-eastern side of Mount Athos and ranks 4th in the hierarchy of Athonite Monasteries.
Externally, it has the appearance of a medieval castle, as it is fortified with walls that are 30 meters high, 140 meters long and surround an area that’s 75 meters wide. The monastery was fortified to this extent due to frequent pirate raids in the past.
It is considered to be the most important center of Serbian culture, since its contribution to the education and spirituality of Serbs is enormous throughout history. It maintains a rich collection of old original manuscripts, images, frescoes, and today it is considered one of the most important treasures of Serbian medieval culture.
Its name probably came from the Greek athonite monk Georgios Hilandarios, founder and builder of the earlier Monastery that was built in the 11th century. Others believe that the name of the Monastery originated from the etymology of the word for the Byzantine ship “helandio”. Parts of it, that are surviving to this day with building improvements, on the southwest side are the tower of Saint George, the southern and western outer defensive wall, on the inner side of which later guest houses and the dining room of the Monastery were built.
In 1198 the emperor Alexios III Angelos, at the request of Stefanos I Nemania, (ruler and prince of Serbia, who was a monk at the Studenitsa Monastery in Serbia, received the name Simeon and then went to Mount Athos) and Rastko (younger son of Stefanos, who had also become a monk taking the name Savvas in the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon of Mount Athos and was a monk for 7 years in the Monastery of Vatopedi) and with the consent of the hierarchy of Mount Athos, offers the abandoned Monastery as an eternal a gift to the Serbs.
They built the monastery, in an area granted by the Vatopedi Monastery, a deed ratified with an imperial golden bull by the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos in 1198. Until 1199, Simeon and Savvas built the first temple of the Presentation of the Virgin (central temple), the Tower of Saint Savvas, the Tower of Kodonostasios and the cell of Saint Simeon under the unlimited funding of the great Stefanos Protosteptos.
In 1199, Simeon (Stephanos Nemania) issued as founder the “Statute of the Monastery” which was written by Savvas with the consent of his brother Stefanos Protosteptos.
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