A contribution to the study of the “ Athonite ” church type of Byzantine architecture *

The recent study of the history and architecture of the Vatopedi monastery’s katholikon, initially built as a cross-insquare – composite four-column type church with lateral apses (“choroi”) and a two-storey narthex, can serve as a secure base for the study of the so-called “Athonite” church type, which in all likelihood had been already completely formed in Constantinople or in the area under its infl uence, before its architectural plan was applied on Athos.

A. During the recent study of the history and architecture of the Vatopedi monastery's katholikon 1 it became evident that the main church of the building complex, the "katholikon" par excellence, was built initially as a crossin-square -composite four-column type church with lateral apses ("choroi") and a two storey narthex (fi gs.1-2).It can thus serve as a secure base for the study of the so-called "Athonite" Church Type, whose it has long been considered a prime example. 2 B. The study of the church type, established to be called "Athonite" has a long history.The fi rst attempts to determine and describe its characteristics and clarify its origin and evolu-A contribution to the study of the "Athonite" church type of Byzantine architecture* N. Gkio les, 21 Đ.Bošković, 22 H. Bouras, 23 Pl.Theocharides, 24 Th.Steppan, 25 Th.Papazotos, 26 G. Velenis, 27 V. Korać, 28 R. Ousterhout 29 and Α. Ghazarian. 30The most systematic, though, attempt in studying the "Athonite" type up to now, has been made by the late professor P. Mylonas, who has published an entire series of papers related to the subject. 31hese publications are a product of an original study based on new and precise survey drawings and on the examination of the buildings themselves.Unfortunately, due to the particularities of local conditions, professor Mylonas had on very few occasions the support of the archaeological research in his studies.However, a special emphasis has been given in his studies, on the clarifi cation of the monuments' building history as much as possible, along with the aid of historic sources, so as to interpret the building conditions and the relations between them.With this evidence, professor My- lonas went on to a series of work hypotheses related with the creation and evolution of the "Athonite" type, as this had been determined by the previous generation of scholars.Most of Mylonas's work hypotheses were initially widely accepted.Later on, however, there have been reservations and disagreements on many of them, based on more complete surveys of the monuments or different interpretations of the sources.In any case, almost all of Mylonas hypotheses related to the interpretation of the building history of the buildings, remain open to further study.Their confi rmation or disapproval might only be possible, if some of the older and better-preserved monuments of this type become object of systematic archaeological research in combination with the use of the historic sources, after their reexamination and reevaluation.
C. The defi nition of the "Athonite" type refers to the determination of the elements that are peculiar to this church type and differentiate it from others, with which it shares certain common traits.In his study on the katholikon of the Great Lavra in 1905, G. Millet,32 following H. Brockhaus,33 who fi rst seems to have introduced the notion of the "Athonite type", when referring to the katholika of Mount Athos monasteries he notes that they are cross-in-square churches with two main characteristics.The fi rst is the existence, aside of very few exceptions, of apses or "choroi" at the edges of the transversal cross arms.The second is the arrangement of the western part, which is made in chiefl y two ways, that yet appear in many variations.The fi rst arrangement includes a double narthex in front of which there is an exonarthex in the form of an open portico.A chapel is on each side and above lies a second storey, the "katehoumena".It is the oldest arrangement encountered among the katholika of the Great Lavra, Vatopedi and Iveron monasteries, but, according to Millet, it can also be found in katholika of a later date.The second arrangement includes the combination of the spacious column-supported lite with an exonarthex.This arrangement is considered to have been introduced on Mount Athos for the fi rst time by the Serbs.Millet's defi nition of the "Athonite" type constituted the basis for the following defi nitions given by various scholars.F. W. Hasluck in 1924 describes the athonite katholika as cross-in-square churches with lateral apses and one or more narthexes. 34. Orlandos in 193035 believes that the "Athonite" type churches are discerned from the existence of four columns that carry the dome, of "choroi", of litae and of chapels.36G. Sotiriou in 1942 states that characteristics of the "Athonite" type are "the triconchon" (i.e. the existence of three apses), "the double narthexes or the litae" and the "chapels added on the lateral sides".37 P. Mylonas in 1963 writes that "the "Athonite" type …… goes basically back to the composite four-column cross-in-square type of the Constantinopolitan School with three extensions that are its fundamental characteristics : the triconchon, the litae and the laterally added chapels".38 R. Krautheimer in 1965 considers that on Mount Athos there is a "local church type", its characteristics being the "triconch plan", the "parekklesia" and the "deep narthex (lite)".39 C. Mango's defi nition in 1976 lists the triconch ("trefoil") and the lite as characteristics of the "Athonite" type.40 N. Nikonanos in 1979 describes as "Athonite" type the cross-in-square domed churches with semicircular apses, called "choroi" or "chorostasia", at the edges of the transversal cross arms, that normally have lite and lateral chapels.41 N. Gioles in 1987 notes that the "Athonite triconch" is considered "a variation of the cross-in-square churches".42 Dj.Bošković in 1992 mentions that the "Athonite" type church is a cross-in square church combined with three apses.43 H. Bouras in 1994 states that "the "Athonite" type … is composed by lateral choroi at the two edges of the transversal cross arms of a cross-in-square church".44 Th.Steppan in 1995 describes the katholikon of the Great Lavra (thus the "Athonite" type churches) as triconchos.45 Th. Paazotos in 1997 defi nes as "Athonite" type the four column cross-insquare with choroi.46 P. Vocotopoulos in 1998 reaffi rming Th.Steppan's position, describes the katholikon of the Great Lavra as a variation of the cross-in-square church.47 Finally, V. Korać in 1998 believes that the "Athonite triconch" is a composite cross-in-square church with a dome supported by four free standing supports and with lateral apses.48 As far as the defi nition of the "Athonite" type is concerned, the following can be observed: The examples of the "Athonite" type churches in or outside Mount Athos consist a large group of edifi ces that have been built under especially different conditions and in different eras.Furthermore, most of them are not individual buildings but entire building complexes with frequently very perplexed building history.Thus defi ning the general characteristics of the type can only satisfy the need of a very rough description of the whole, inevitably neglecting the particularities that arise from the various elaborations in producing all of these works of architecture.Based on the above, within the limits of a further study of the "Athonite" type, it seems purposeful to continue an analytic and multifaceted examination of at least the most important "Athonite" type examples in relation with their building history.The classifi cation of these monuments in groups, whose characteristics can be determined and subse-quently methodically studied, can serve research in drawing conclusions on the type's appearance and evolution.Due to the variety and multiformity of the various elements of the "Athonite" type, as it is described above, no general defi nition can possibly cover suffi ciently the whole.49 The differentiations among monuments that have similarities in one element's arrangement but great differences in the arrangement of another, renders their general grouping diffi cult.Thus, if it can be accepted that characteristics of the "Athonite" type are the triconch plan, the chapels and the wide narthex (lite), 50 then the existence of the "Athonite" type in the Middle Byzantine period is simply unthinkable: the oldest monument with these three characteristics is the church of Prophet Elias in Thessaloniki that dates probably after the mid-fourteenth century.51 Besides, the view of certain important examples as various evolution stages of an ideal type, when generally defi ning the "Athonite" type, involves the danger of hurried interpretations and maybe generalizations, that cannot suffi ciently be supported by the archaeological and historical evidence available. Myonas's method of the distinction and, up to a degree, independent study of each element considered up to now as a characteristic of the "Athonite" type, i.e. the church's arrangement, the narrow two storey narthex, the lite, the exonarthexes, the annexed chapels and the typikaria, seems to be especially useful and it can be assured that it will continue to have effect towards researching the problems concerning the elements assigned to this type.New elements that continuously emerge from systematic studies on the monuments, along with assistance from archaeological research and reexamination of historical sources, can be put to use within context of the work hypotheses that have been set, confi rming or reevaluating the existing views.As for the correlation of the monuments and the drawing of conclusions on the evolution of the type in the Middle and Late Byzantine periods, the effort initiated by previous scholars has to be continued, as far as is permitted by secure data, available to us through the study of examples on Mount Athos, in relation with the, unfortunately, lesser evidence of the architecture of the greater region of Macedonia and Constantinople.
General defi nitions inherited from the older to the newer research, create serious problems to the study of the "Athonite" type.The consideration of the various characteristics of the type in one common context, misleads research from the thesis and subsequent resolution of crucial issues that evade.Such issues are: if and how much the two storey narthex and the lite really do connect in a particular way with the type, or even more so, if the "Athonite" type churches are triconch or cross-in-square churches where, for functional reasons, lateral apses have been added, 52 and if only four column cross-in-square churches with choroi can be classifi ed as "Athonite", as some scholars mention, or other variations of cross-in-square churches as well, as mentioned by others. 53Due to indecisions on the clarifi cation of such issues, Reconstruction.Plan (S.Mamaloukos) 49 The differences concern mainly the arrangement of the western part of the churches, but also that of the main church sometimes. 50Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, 398. 51Papazotos, Μονή Ακαπνίου, 59.
52 For an analysis of the problem and a systematic survey of the bibliography v. Mylonas, Catholicon de la Grande-Lavra, 90.
53 About the fi rst view v. Orlandos, Αντινίτσα, 378-379; Mylonas, Αρχιτεκτονική, 199, and the second in: Millet, op.cit., 73-74.A consequence of the disagreement are questions created about the relationship the "Athonite" type has with various monuments even with some that are considered "key monuments".Among these, the katholikon of the Great Lavra itself.
the relationship between elements encountered in Byzantine architecture in general and this specifi c church type still remains unclear.Even worse, great vagueness remains in defi ning the type itself.It seems thus purposeful to examine the "Athonite" type" based on its main characteristic, which is the existence of "choroi" at the edges of the transversal cross arms, rather than on the rest of the variable characteristics ascribed to the type.This will effectively contribute to limiting as much as possible problems that emerge in the study of the "Athonite" type, when faced with its various characteristics that are set by general defi nitions.Finally, based on the above, the defi nition as "athonite" only of the churches of the composite four column cross-in-square type, with lateral apses -"choroi" -at the edges of the transversal cross arms, regardless of the arrangement of their western part and the existence or not of other additions, seems to be the more secure base for any further studies of the type.
D. The issue of the origins of the "Athonite" type is one that research has been especially concerned with for a long time. 54Α. Choisy, in 1883, seems to have attempted to defi ne indirectly the origin of the type, by relating the katholikon of the Great Lavra with the church of Hagios Andreas in Crisis in Constantinople. 55N. P. Kondakov in 1902 believes that the model of the athonite churches was found in Thessaloniki. 56G. Millet in 1905, having referred to Georgian equivalents of the choroi with an implication on the descent of St. Athanasios, the founder of the Great Lavra, from Trebizond, fi nally seeks the model of the choroi in Constantinople, specifi cally referring to the church of Hagios Andreas in Crisis and the cellae trichorae and the typological forms that originate from them. 57He also writes that the model for the athonite katholika, the katholikon of the Great Lavra, is a link of an evolution chain from the basilica to the cross-insquare church. 58J. Strzygowski in 1918 advocates that the type originates from Armenia and Georgia. 59The idea that the origin of the type is in the Caucasus area, is also supported by F. W. Hasluck in 1924 60 and is based on the descent of St. Athanasios from Trebizond.A. Orlandos, in 1926, in his study on the church of Hagios Titos, accepts not only the Armenian origin of the element of the lateral apses but also Strzygowski's theory for the Armenian origin of the cruci-form church based on the existence of lateral apses in Hagios Titos. 61He repeats these views in 1930 in his study for the katholikon of the Antinitsa monastery. 62More specifi cally, he states that the models for the "Athonite" type churches in respect to the morphology, are found in Constantinople, though in respect to the plan he suspects possible infl uences "from the Armenian and the Georgian (churches), that frequently not only have lateral apses but also chapels on all four sides".Referring to the descent of St. Athanasios from Trebizond, he supposes that the apses originate directly from the East and not via Constantinople where the element is not found, since in the example of Hagios Andreas in Crisis, pointed out by Millet, it was proven that the lateral apses are an ottoman addition.He also states, in 1935, that the singlenaved triconch type was spread to Greece from the katholika of Mount Athos during the second millennium, 63 and in 1939, he writes that the "Athonite" type was created on Mount Athos during the tenth and eleventh centuries and was later diffused from there. 64G. Sotiriou in 1942 believes that the "triconch shape (of the Mount Athos churches) originated from monastic centers older than Mount Athos that were actually in Asia Minor" being based on the descent of St. Athanasios from Trebizond, while "the architectural formation is infl uenced mostly from the School of Constantinople". 65he eastern origin of the type based again on St. Athanasios' descent, is also alluded by R. Krautheimer in 1965. 66Renouncing older views about athonite infl uences on Southern Italy, G. Dimitrokallis believes that the "Athonite" type is the creation of general architectural movements and ideas of the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century. 67C. Mango in 1976 relates the katholika of the Vatopedi and the Iveron monasteries with the church of Hagios Andreas at Peristerai. 68Th.Papazotos claims that the origins of the type go back to early Christian models, as the now lost church of Hagia Sophia in Adrianoupolis. 69Finally, the relationship between the "Athonite" type and the architecture in the Caucasus region is recalled by Α. Ghazarian. 70. Mylonas, in consecutive publications from 1971 to 1994, 71 presented a complete hypothesis on the creation and the evolution of the "Athonite" type.As far as the appearance of the type on Mount Athos is concerned, Mylonas's hypothesis briefl y is as follows: in 963 the katholikon Mylonas' views on the creation of the "Athonite" type on Mount Athos, as far as the basilica of the Protaton and the katholikon of the Great Lavra are concerned, were accepted by many scholars, yet some have expressed different views on particular points and even objections.P. Vocotopoulos in 1985 72 and, mainly, in 1995, 73 accepts Mylonas's views about the creation of the "Athonite" type at the katholikon of the Great Lavra, which he relates with the Constantinopolitan cross-in-square churches.He believes that prototypes for the addition of choroi, that have not survived in Constantinople, should have been the numerous early Christian triapses that were still standing at the time, and probably the numerous single nave triconch churches of Macedonia.He also rejects the correlation between the katholikon of Iveron and Georgian prototypes.Ch.Bouras, in 1994, agrees with Mylonas's views as far as the origin of the type is concerned. 74G. Velenis in 1997 claims, though with no analytic survey, that the "Athonite church type (is) a creation of the School of Macedonia par excellence". 75Th.Papazotos observes that "an intelligible base of the new (athonite) type" is the katholikon of the Great Lavra and accepts Mylonas's views about the creation and the evolution of the type. 76In another publication of his he seems to advocate that the origin of the "Athonite" type goes back to early Christian times and he relates the katholikon of Vatopedi with the church of Hagia Sophia of Adrianoupolis, the homeland of the three founders of the athonite monastery. 77R. Ousterhout in 1999 also shares Mylonas's views. 78N. Gioles, in 1987, agrees with Mylonas in that the prototype for the churches of Mount Athos is the katholikon of the Great Lavra remodeled by St. Athanasios.He believes, however, that given the descent of St. Athanasios, the idea of the choroi originated in the East, where there are plenty of similar examples, and observes that an evolved form of the "Athonite triconch" are the katholika in the monasteries of Iveron and Vatopedi which are imitated by later churches of the type. 79Th.Steppan in 1995 believes that the addition of choroi at the katholikon of the Great Lavra was done either by imitation of Georgian prototypes or by infl uence from the church of Hagios Andreas at Peristerai or from the inscribed apses of the parabemata of the katholikon at the Myrelaion monastery.He accepts Mylonas' views regarding the basilica of the Protaton and relates the katholikon of the Iveron monastery with Georgian architecture. 80Serious objections to Mylonas's views were expressed in 1985 by I. Papaggelos, who believes that alterations to the church of Protaton were not made by St. Athanasios and that the choroi in the katholikon of the Great Lavra cannot be part of the remodeling works undergone by St. Athanasios.Simultaneously, he points out the existence of the triconch katholikon of the Melissourgeiou monastery, which he dates to be in the eleventh century, probably in 1030, and relates it with the idea of the choroi on Mount Athos. 81Finally, the entire hypothesis of the alterations on the Protaton in order to accommodate choroi, is rejected with incisive observations, based on later research on the building, by P. Phountas, in publications between 1985 and 2008 where he claims that the church was built with the initiative of St. Athanasios in the Greek cross form from the beginning. 82After the attempted overview of the hitherto research, and along with the new elements that emerge from the study of the katholikon of Vatopedi, as well as of other Athonite monuments, the following views can be articulated concerning the origin and evolution of the "Athonite" type during the Middle Byzantine period.
Despite the wide spread of the "Athonite" type in the Late Buzantine and mainly in the post-Byzantine period, it is only on Mount Athos where a few middle-byzantine composite four column cross-in-square churches with lateral apses -"choroi" are known. 83These are the katholika of the monasteries of Vatopedi 84 and Iveron 85 and the church of Hagios Demetrius, kyriakon of the Skete of Vatopedi, which Papazotos identifi es with the katholikon of the Kynopous monastery (fi g. 3). 86It is worthy to note from the start, that the katholika of Vatopedi and Iveron have an astonishing similarity, 87 and that the church of Hagios Demetrius follows in many instances the articulation of the two fi rst big katholika which seem to have functioned as its prototypes. 88. Millet, in his study on the katholikon of the Great Lavra, that was published in 1905, takes for granted that this church (fi g. 4) was the prototype for the katholika of Mount Athos, just as the Great Lavra was itself a prototype for the monasteries on Mount Athos.89 This stand by Millet was never doubted, 90 even though it does not rely on credible sources nor does it result from obvious and irrefutable comparisons.On the contrary, when Mylonas argued that the small-scale archaeological investigation he carried out proved that in this supposed prototype of the "Athonite" type the choroi are not contemporary with the rest of the building, systematic efforts were made to interpret the creation of the type in relation with the building history of the katholikon.91 Yet it should be noted that despite the successful observations of Mylonas, who in fact set the basis for an archaeological examination of this complex and important monument, there still remain serious problems in its interpretation that only serious archaeological research will eventually resolve.92 Thus, it isn't possible at present to use with absolute safety evidence from the katholikon's building history when attempting to study the appearance of the "Athonite" type on Mount Athos.
As far as the rest of the monuments on Mount Athos that were related at times with the creation process of the "Athonite" type are concerned, things seem to be as follows : the view that the remodeling of the basilica of the Protaton by St. Athanasios 93 is connected with the birth of the type on Mount Athos is most probably false, since Phountas's research has shown that the existing church was built from foundation as a timber roofed cross-shaped basilica (fi g. 5). 94Furthermore the hypothesis that the present day katholikon of Hilandar is built on the foundations of a grandiose eleventh century katholikon without choroi, whose fl oor has been preserved, 95 is not generally accepted and cannot in any case be proven without archaeological research. 96Besides, the hypothesis based again on Mylonas's observations, that the choroi were a later addition also to the katholikon of Iveron, 97 falls apart due to its similarity with the katholikon of Vatopedi, where (as mentioned before) the choroi are integral with the rest of the building. 98n the other hand, as opposed to the unique katholikon of the Great Lavra (its design being of experimental character, 99 that is partly justifi ed also from its supposedlyon the grounds of written sources -complex building history), the quite similar to each other katholika of Vatopedi and Iveron give the impression that they are integral in design even at the level of detail.Thus, after all that is mentioned above, and despite the absence of specifi c historic data, the justifi able work hypothesis can be derived, that the application of the "Athonite" type on Mount Athos is related to the mechanism that produced the katholika of Vatopedi and 83 Cf. related subject: Mylonas, Two Churches, 557-558, 574; idem, Catholicon de la Grande-Lavra, 103. 84Mamaloukos, Καθολικό Βατοπεδίου,120. 85Mamaloukos, op.cit., 286-287. 86Mamaloukos, op.cit., 284-285. 87S. Mamaloukos, Zητήματα σχεδιασμού στη βυζαντινή αρχιτεκτονική, Δελτίον ΧΑΕ 24 (2003) 119-120. 88Mamaloukos, Καθολικό Βατοπεδίου, 284-285. 89Millet, Recherches, 73. 90Characteristically v. Mylonas, Catholicon de la Grande-Lavra, 89. 91Ibid.. 92 Mamaloukos, Καθολικό Βατοπεδίου, 281-282, where it is noted: «The katholikon (of Lavra) is a peculiar cruciform church with choroi, which in no way may be said to represent a typical example of the "Athonite" type.This is a massive building of low proportions and with unarticulated facades, much changed by later interventions to the exterior.Professor Mylonas, based on new drawings, on-the-spot observations and a small-scale archaeological investigation, attempted attempted for the fi rst time to study systematically and interpret the structural history of the monument.He considers that the church began to be built in 963 without the side apses, which were added in ca.1000 by St. Athanasios himself.Nevertheless, the question is made complex by information from the sources regarding an extension made to the church to the east, and the existence of a dog-tooth cornice around the windows of the side apses and the sanctuary.A fi nal answer may perhaps be given only following systematic archaeological investigation.In the meantime, we may hypothesise with reservations that the ca.1000 building programme was more extensive than the addition of the side apses». 93Mylonas, Protaton, 160. 94Mamaloukos, Καθολικό Βατοπεδίου, 279-280. 95Mylonas, Καθολικό Χελανδαρίου και ρυθμολογικά συμπεράσματα, 41-43; idem, Παρατηρήσεις στο καθολικό Χελανδαρίου, 64-83; idem, Catholicon de Chilandar, 7-38.
Iveron.This mechanism still remains unknown to us due to the complete lack of relative historic data.Yet when taking into consideration the similarity and the total design assembly of the two churches, it seems more possible that they had a common prototype rather than that they are a product of an original creation, 100 something suggested by Papazotos. 101s for the katholikon at the Great Lavra, it can not for the moment be excluded that the katholika of Vatopedi and Iveron were the prototypes for the remodeling made by St. Athanasios around the year 1000.This -still unclear to us, as well as uncertain -remodeling could have been materialized in order to attain the functional advantages of the "Athonite" type. 102Regarding diffusion of the type on Mount Athos during this early period, it is worthy to note that parallel with the "Athonite" type churches mentioned, in the Holy Mountain there are also two middle byzantine triconch churches, 103 that belong to a variation of the type that could be called "Compact Athonite Type". 104According to views that have already been stated, the diffusion of the "Athonite" type is probably not irrelevant to the idea of the "choroi" 105 that seems to have been known on Mount Athos as in the greater area of Macedonia at this period. 106t seems that for the clarifi cation of the "Athonite" type's origin more signifi cant research has to be done, without being any certainty that fi nal conclusions will be drawn.Regarding the relationship between the "Athonite" type churches and the so called "Macedonian School", 107 the following can be observed: the existence of numerous triconch churches during the early-and middle-Byzantine periods in the area, could be considered to have contributed to the preference and consequently to the diffusion of the "Athonite" type.Yet it is diffi cult to accept that buildings such as the two big katholika of Mount Athos are in any way related to the known humble churches of rural Macedonia such as the churches in the areas of Kastoria and Ohrid. 108The possibility that there were early "Athonite" type examples in Thessaloniki itself that do not survive today cannot be eliminated but cannot be reliably supported either. 109e origin of the type from Constantinople or the area under its direct infl uence seems more likely, 110 given not only the undeniable role of the capital as a center, 111 but also its testifi ed special rapport with the rapidly developing monastic center of Mount Athos at the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh centuries.Aside from the general confi rmation that the katholika of Vatopedi and Iveron are products of fi ne architecture, this view is reinforced by the detection in both buildings of morphological elements that are typical of the capital's architecture.The fact that no "Athonite" type churches are found in Constantinople itself or regions of its periphery (i.e.Bithynia with its important monastic centers) could be perfectly attributed to the extensive devastation that the monuments of these regions underwent. 112s for the design of the "Athonite" type, it seems that it derived from the combination of the typical Constantinopolitan, composite, four column, cross-in-square, domed church, 113 with the familiar practice in the Roman and early Christian periods up to the middle-Byzantine era but also later on, of adding apses to the edges of the transversal axis of the building.Examples of this practice are the early Christian basilicas with a trancept that ends into apses on either side, 114 the cross-in-square church of Hagios Titos in Gortys (fi g. 6), 115 the seventh century 116 or even later, and the middle-Byzantine church of Karaač-Teke near Varna in Bulgaria (fi g. 7), which has been dated to the end of the ninth century or to the beginning of the tenth century, 117 but also that of Hagios Nikolaos in Vathy of Boeotia (fi g. 8), dated to the eleventh century. 118Besides, the idea of emphasizing the axis of a space by adding apses to its two ends is also known from vestibula of the early Christian architecture, but also from equivalent works of the middle-Byzantine architecture, such as the northern church of the Lips monastery, the katholikon of the Myrelaion Monastery, the Vefa Kilise camii, the church of Christ Pantepoptes in Constantinople, the katholikon of Hosios Loukas monastery, the katholikon of the Monastery of Hagios Chrysostomos at Koutsovendis and the churches of Panagia Apsinthiotissa and Panagia Phorbiotissa, Asinou, in Cyprus etc., where there are shallow apses at the ends of the narthexes. 119Finally, as far as the diffusion of the «Athonite" type is concerned, as Korać observes, an important role was probably played by functional purposes. 120

Additional Note
In the long time which has elapsed -despite the author's will -between the completion, on January 2009, of the present paper and its submission for publication, the literature on the "Athonite" type has been enriched by two signifi cant publications, i.e. the doctoral thesis of Vasilis Messis 121 and a paper by Anastasios Tantsis. 122Subject of the doctroral thesis of V. Messis is a global and extensive study of the "Athonite" type, which addresses the questions of the creation and the evolution of the type, its spatial and temporal diffusion, its specifi c typological and morphological features and the variations of other church types resulting from the addition of lateral apses to them.The study is accompanied by a precious systematic register of the hitherto known Byzantine and post-Byzantine "athonite" churches.As far as it concerns the issue of the origins of the "Athonite" type, V. Messis argues that it was created on Mount Athos, at the end of the tenth century. 123A. Tantsis's paper contains a series of very interesting, as well as convincing observations on the methodology that should be followed when approaching the issue of typology in Byzantine architecture, which lead to the conclusion that "it might be easier and more fruitful if we start searching for a prototype as a cultural reference and not as a source of geometric analogies". 124As for the creation of the "Athonite" type, A. Tantsis argues that it was created on Mount Athos under the inspiration of the Constantinopolitan churches-shrines of the Holy Virgin at Blachernae and at the Chalkoprateia, to which, according to written sources, lateral apses had been added.The present paper sustains that the available data are not suffi cient to justify the notion supported by the two aforementioned studies, i.e. the creation of the "Athonite" type on Mount Athos.On the grounds of what I've noted above, I continue to assume that it is more likely that the "Athonite" type had already been completely formed in Constantinople or in the area under its infl uence before its architectural plan was applied on Athos.One more argument towards this notion is offered by the description in Theophanes Continuatus (registered by V. D. Messis) of a "triconch" church, build in Constantinople, in 839, during the reign of Theophilos. 125Despite its haziness, it is quite possible that it is the description of an "athonite" church.Током недавног истраживања историјe и архитектурe католикона манастира Ватопеда установљено је да је реч о par excellence примеру цркве уписаног крста с куполом, бочним конхама (choroi) и двоспратном припратом.С обзиром на то да је дуго сматран једним од најбоље очуваних примера таквог типа грађевине, католикон Ватопеда може послужити као поуздана основа за проучавање такозваног светогорског типа цркве.