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Brief History of Chilandar Monastery

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The Chilandar Monastery was first mentioned in a Greek manuscript of 1015, as "completely abandoned and empty". It is believed that a Boatman - George Chelandarios was the founder of this monastery in 980, and the Monastery was called after him. In the first Serbian sources it took fonn as Hilandar.

As it is known, the Chilandar Monastery was granted by Emperor Alexius III, to Serbian monk Sava and to his father the Grand Zhupan of Serbia Stevan Nemanja, in 1198, - 800 years ago. It happeened when Stevan Nemanja renaunced the throne and came as a monk of the Studenica Monastery in Serbia, to his youngest son, monk Sava, in Greek monastery of Vatopedi, on Holy Athos. Simeon and Sava renewed the Chilandar monastery. Since Chilandar monastery was free of both the Protaton and imperial authority from Constantinople, Simeon Nemanja issued a gold-sealed charter to Chilandar constituting it as a Serbian monastery and the hereditary foundation of the Nemanjic family, granting to the Monastery needed property for its needs since it becames completely selfgoverning Serbian monastery. The first abbot of Chilandar was Methodius, appointed by St. Simeon himself. At the begining there were about 10 to 15 Serbian monks. After six years in Chilandar monastery were some ninety monks, following St. Sava's typikon. Monk Simeon died on February 13, 1199, in the narthex of Chilandar monastery and was buried in the monastery church. In 1206, St. Sava transferred the relics of St. Simeon to Studenica Monastery in Serbia.

The most important position in the Monastery was the abbot. The oikonomos was the most important position after abbot, with two assistants - paroikonomos and oikonomos. The most remarcable known abbots of Chilandar monastery in 13th century and at the begining of 14th century were, after Methodius, Joanikije, who became Serbian archbishop in 1272.; Jevstatije (1262-1265), later bishop of Zeta and then archbishop of Serbia (1279-1286; Stephan, Kirijak, Arsenije, Sava.

In the Monastery there had been open a chamber with beds for seriously sick monks, which is counted as the first Serbian hospital. It was later expanded by tzar Dushan and tzar Lazar, following the latest West Europian methods, on the basis of classical traditions of Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, etc. (see manucripts with medical texts from the late 14th and mid 16th centuries in Chilandar). By the mid 14th century, Chilandar monastery possesed almost a fifth of the Holy Athos peninsula alone (about 40 square miles). After the Byzantine emperors John Ducas Vatatzes and Michael VIII Palaealogus, and the Serbian kings Vladislav, Urosh I and Dragutin, - the most important benefactor of Chilandar monastery was Serbian king Milutin (1282-1321), exposing Serbia to stronger Byzantine social and cultural influence by incursions into Byzantine territory in Macedonia. He in 1293, built a new main church on the foundations of the old one, extending existing fortifications; in 1302 he built Hrusija by the harbour and so-called Milutin's Tower. At the end of the 14th century and in early 15th century, during Serbian princes and despots, the Chilandar's property continued to expand.

Prince Lazar (1371-1389) added to the main Chilandar church so-called Lazar's narthex. It was before the Battle of Kosovo.

St. Sava had spent eleven years as archmandrite of the Studenica monastery in Serbia (1206-1217), and then again returned to Holy Athos, and set about gaining an independent, autocephalous archbishopric for Serbia, which he did achieved in Nicaea in 1219, and became the first Serbian archbishop. Coming back from Nicaea to Serbia, he took from Chilandar the Krmchija-Code and other needed books in order to build the new Church and state organization. He also took from Chilandar some monks, and appointed them bishops for diaceses which he had founded. The Serbian Church and Serbian State were very well established.