The "Trapeza" in Cenobitic Monasteries: Architectural and Spiritual Contexts

Author(s): Svetlana Popović

Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 1998, Vol. 52 (1998), pp. 281-303
Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University

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 The Trapeza in Cenobitic Monasteries:
Architectural and Spiritual Contexts
SVETLANA POPOVId

T he spiritual life of monasticism found material expression in a spatial structur

known as the monastery. The concept of this establishment thus has many layers of
meanings in which the architectural and spatial layouts are prominent. There is a very
close relationship between the monastic way of life and its architectural setting. Building
forms and their spatial arrangement often have symbolic meaning, sometimes not imme-
diately recognizable. The shaping of the monastery of the eastern Christian world
evolved through the centuries, from its beginnings in the fourth century through the
medieval epoch. The cenobitic community-the koinobion-where a group of monks fol-
lowed a communal form of life was established as early as the fourth century.' Three
prominent physical features characterized a koinobion: the main church, the enclosure
wall, and the refectory, referred to as the trapeza in the Greek sources.2 If one considers
all of the elements involved in establishing a koinobion monastery, one realizes that its
spatial layout must have been determined at the time the main church was founded. The
entire area was dedicated to a particular saint, and in this context the act of founding
the church, where prayers were conducted day and night, points to an established ritual
performed within a defined and secured area. Planning the complex at an early stag
did not mean that the monastery's walled enclosure was complete from the beginning;
construction could continue alongside the building of the church.

This article is an expanded and revised version of a paper read at the Byzantine Studies Conference, Ann
Arbor, Mich., October 1994. I have greatly benefited from the comments and suggestions of Slobodan CurUi
and Alice-Mary Talbot.
'From the voluminous bibliography on early monasticism, I list here only the most recent publications in
which most of the older relevant literature has been cited: Pachomian Koinonia, ed. A. Veilleux, 3 vols. (Kala-
mazoo, Mich., 1980-82); C. A. Frazee, "Anatolian Asceticism in the Fourth Century: Eustathius of Sebastea
and Basil of Caesarea," CHR 66 (1980), 16-33; P. Rousseau, Pachomius: The Making of a Community in Fourth-
Century Egypt (Los Angeles, 1985); A. Papadakis, "Byzantine Monasticism Reconsidered," BS1 47-48 (1986-
87), 34-46; J. C. O'Neill, "The Origins of Monasticism," in The Making of Orthodoxy: Essays in Honour of Henry
Chadwick, ed. R. Williams (Cambridge, 1989), 270-87; J. Binns, "The Distinctiveness of Palestinian Monasti-
cism, 450-550 A.D.," in Monastic Studies: The Continuity of Tradition, ed. J. Loades (Bangor, Maine, 1990), 11-20;
G. Gould, The Desert Fathers on Monastic Community (Oxford, 1993); S. Elm, "Virgins of God": The Making o
Asceticism in Late Antiquity (Oxford, 1994).
2S. Popovid, Krst u krugu: Arhitektura manastira u srednjovekovnoj Srbiji (Belgrade, 1994), 50-62. On the mo-
nastic trapeza, cf. Lampe, 1399.

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282 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

The koinobion had several functions that determined its form.

three functional groups of structures can be distinguished: one zo
gious worship, a second zone for dwelling purposes, and a third f
To be sure, the entire koinobion monastery was dedicated to religi
concrete conditions of daily life the space intended exclusively for
defined. The zone for worship, in which I would include the refe
by the position of the church building. In most cases a monastic
velop its zone for religious worship over a period of time, inc
religious buildings beyond that in the original concept. These wer
space of the inner courtyard and within the developed area along
The koinobion as an architectural complex was spatially defined b
This walled enclosure was not merely a physical border dividing t
minds of contemporaries also symbolized the abode of a saint, a "
should bear in mind, however, that this would be the primary sp
or additions to the primary forms could occur over the course of t
features-the enclosure wall, the church, and the refectory-re
brief description of the physical enclosure of the cenobitic comm
digmatic for the entire chronological span surveyed here, from the
end of the medieval era. The reason for the continuity of the spa
monastic way of life was governed by strict rules that did not ch
centuries. This does not mean that the monastic rules did not cha
they did. Those changes did not happen at once, however; they de
period of time, bringing to light new arrangements of monastic se
of buildings in the monastery and their architectural relationships
the prescribed daily life and ritual performed in the community
question of the position and meaning of the cenobitic refectory wit
ronment.

It is well known that a meal, or better a communal meal, was very

first Christians, whether monks or ordinary believers.6 Even the fir
mortified the flesh for the salvation of their souls, gathered twice a w
with other brethren.7 It is also well known that the agape-a religious
by the first Christians, with its roots in Judaism-was different from
liturgical source was the Last Supper.8
The agape also had its source in the Lord's Supper, but not with th
tions.9 In the early days of monasticism, especially in the period str

'Popovid, Krst, 80ff; eadem, The Architectural Iconography of the Late Byzantine Mon
1-6, 13-17.
4Cf. H. G. Evelyn-White, The Monasteries of the Wddi 'VNatrun, III (New York, 19
d'enceinte des monastires coptes primitifs et couvents-forteresses," MilRome 76 (196
"Monastery Entrances around the Year 1200," in Studenica et l'art byzantin autour d
1988), 153-69.
5The Life of Pachomius (Vita Prima Graeca), ed. A. N. Athanassakis (Missoula, Mont.,
6Cf. G. Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy (Westminster, 1945), 82ff; W. A. Meeks, The Firs
Haven, Conn.-London, 1983), 157ff.
7Cf. Jean Cassien: Institutions cinobitiques, ed. J. C. Guy (Paris, 1965), V, 234.26.
8Cf. Dix, Shape of the Liturgy, 19, 48, 82ff.
9 Ibid., 89.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 283

by anchoritism, the hermits assembled

liturgy; a communal meal that derived fr
Special dietary prescriptions for the anc
from the original Early Christian custom
Bearing in mind all these facts, it seems
would have been a building with a specia

THE REFECTORIES OF EGYPT AND SYRIA-PALESTINE

In terms of its spatial disposition in the monastic complex, the refectory was alway
in the vicinity of the church. This relationship can be traced to the very beginnings
monasticism in Egypt and Palestine. One of the earliest prominent monks, Pachomius
the founder of the Egyptian koinobia, left his Rules governing all of the Egyptian cenobitic
monasteries, which constituted an assembly of all Pachomian communities." Among t
regulations was a refectory rule that prescribed conduct during the monks' comm
meal.'2 After the synaxis concluded in the church, the brothers would go to the refecto
They would sit in order at their appointed places while a special seat was provided for
the father superior. Conversation was prohibited during the meal, and the food w
served when a signal sounded. In the Pachomian koinobia of Egypt, it was common to
locate the refectory next to the church. At Anba Bishoi and Deir es Suryani it was situa
west of the main church, from which it was separated by a corridor. At Deir el Baram
the refectory was located to the southwest, and at St. Antony it was northwest of th
old church. '

The monastery of Anba Bishoi was founded in the fourth century in the tim
Macarius the Great.14 The monastery was rebuilt many times during its centuries of
tence, while its refectory bears traces of renovation from the eleventh century.'5 T
refectory was located west of the church; its main entrance was opposite its central w
ern door (Fig. la). In architectural plan, it was an elongated narrow hall consisting o
bays structurally divided by arches, each of them separately vaulted. The central bay
a quadripartite vault. Each of the two side bays was covered by a low dome, while t
northernmost was barrel vaulted (Fig. Ib). The broad elongated masonry table
placed centrally along the longitudinal axis of the building. The refectory table term
nated in a three-quarter circle at its northern end. In the southernmost bay once st
a lectern, used for reading the psalms and prayers during the meal.
In the monastery of Deir es Suryani, founded in the first half of the sixth centu
the refectory was also located on the west side of the church.'6 The main entrances to
dining hall and to the church building faced each other. The architectural articulation
the refectory seems to have been changed from its original plan by shortening the b
ing at its west end (Fig. 2a). A masonry table occupied the central position in the ha

'OCf. E. Jeanselme, "La r6gime alimentaire des anachoretes et des moines byzantins," in 2e Congres d
toire de la MIdecine (Evreux, 1922), 1-28.
11Cf. note 1 above.
'2Cf. Pachomian Koinonia, ed. Veilleux, II, 150.28-34, 151.35-37.
'3Cf. C. Walters, Monastic Archaeology in Egypt (Warminster, 1974), 99-102.
'4Cf. Evelyn-White, Monasteries, 133.
15Ibid., 163.
16Ibid., 170.

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284 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

and a stone lectern was placed at the east end. All three rem
The only remnants of fresco decoration are the eight painted
tern."7 The building has been dated to the ninth century.'8 Of a
and also dating to the ninth century, is the refectory in the m
mus.19 Here the dining hall was situated next to the southwes
(Fig. 2b). The architectural plan of the building and its structu
conclusion that some alterations must have occurred over the course of time. The elon-
gated rectangular hall consisted of three domed bays, of which the westernmost is di-
vided by an arch. A stone lectern was placed in the west bay, and a long masonry table
runs along the longitudinal axis of the building.
At the St. Symeon monastery, or Anba Hadra, in Aswan, the refectory was located on
the upper terrace of the monastery where the kasr (monastic tower) was located.20 The
appearance of kasrs as strongholds can be traced back to the end of the fourth century,
and definitely to the beginning of the fifth century in Egypt.21 The unusual position of
the dining hall, which is connected with the main monastic tower instead of with the
church, could be explained in the broader context of monastic development. It is well
known that St. Symeon's monastery, built in the eighth century, suffered from major
alterations and rebuilding in the tenth century and later.22 These towers were multipur-
pose in their function as well as in their meaning. In Egyptian monasteries they had two
or three stories containing cells, rooms for economic activity, a treasury with a library,
lodgings for individuals of special distinction, and a chapel on the uppermost level, usu-
ally dedicated to the archangel Michael.23 The tower functioned as a refuge in case of a
siege, and in these circumstances it also served as a small monastery within the broader
monastic complex. But the tower had yet another function in the everyday life of the
community. There are numerous examples of towers in Egypt and throughout the re-
gions of Palestine and Syria that were used as places of seclusion for prominent monks
and founders of communities.24 In that sense the refectory at the St. Symeon monastery
that was attached to the tower, or incorporated in the kasr that functioned as an indepen-
dent monastic unit with its chapel, had its usual function, position, and meaning. The
dining hall there had an elongated rectangular plan consisting of ten vaulted bays, prob-
ably once domed. The axially placed row of four columns, together with transverse
arches linking columns with the walls, formed each of the bays (Fig. 3a, b). Remains of
eight circular masonry constructions resembling refectory tables are still visible on the
refectory floor.
It is important to analyze the position of these Egyptian monastic refectories within
the monastic complex. They were set in close relation to the monastic church, most often
attached to its western side, with the main entrances to the church and the refectory

'7G. J. Chester, "Notes on the Coptic Dayrs of the Wady Natrfin and on Dayr Antonios in the Eastern
Desert," AJ 30 (1873), 109; Evelyn-White, Monasteries, 210.
IsEvelyn-White, Monasteries, 244.
19Ibid., 244-45.
20U. Monneret de Villard, II monastero di S. Simeone presso Aswdn, I (Milan, 1927).
21 On the tower of the skete from 444 A.D., cf. J.-C. Guy, Les Apophtegmes des peres (Paris, 1993), 74.
22Monneret de Villard, S. Simeone, 156ff; Walters, Monastic Archaeology, 241.
23Walters, Monastic Archaeology, 86-99.
24Cf. S. Popovik, "Elevated Chapels: The Monastery Tower and Its *Meaning," BSCAbstr 19 (1993), 7-8.

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I Anba Bishoi monastery, Wadi Natrun: (a) plan; (b) refectory cross-section (after Evel
Monasteries, pl. xxxvII)

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2 (a) Deir es Suryani monastery

Monasteries, pls. L and LXXX)

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fig. 114)

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5 (a) Khirbet ed Deir monastery, plan; (b) monastery of Castellion, plan (after Hirschfeld,
Desert Monasteries, figs. 18, 28)
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7 (a) Dar Qita monastery, plan (after Butler, Early Churches in Syria, fig. 48); (b) Qal'at et Tou
monastery, plan (after Pefia, Castellana, and Fernandez, Les cdnobites syriens, fig. 35A); (c) T
Bi'a monastery, sketch plan of the refectory (after Weiss, 'Archaeology in Syria," fig. 26)

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plan (after Ramsay and Bell, The Th

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11 Latros: (a) monastery on th

(after Wiegand, Der Latmos, f

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Cave Monasteries, fig

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14 Haghartzin monastery,
(after Haghartzin, fig. 19)

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17 Mount Athos, Great Lavra monastery, plan (drawing by P M. Mylonas)

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18 Mount Athos, Great Lavra monastery, refectory plan (top) and east elev
(reconstruction after Mylonas, "La trapeza," figs. 4, 9)

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19 (a) Hosios Loukas monastery, refectory cross-sections (top) and plan (bottom) (after Stikas, To oiko-
domikon chronikon, fig. 103); (b) Chios, monastery of Nea Moni, refectory cross-section (left) and
plan (right) (after Bouras, Nea Moni on Chios, fig. 151)

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Orlandos, Monasteriake, fig. 58); (b) Ho

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pl. CCLXVII); (b) Mount Athos, Chilandar monastery, refectory
(after Nenadovid, "Jedna hipoteza," figs. 4, 9)

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24 (a) Monastery of Sopogani, refectory elevation (top) and plan (bottom) (after Popovid, Krst, fig. 89);
(b) monastery of St. Stephen in Banjska, refectory elevation (top) and plan (bottom) (after Popovid,
Krst, fig. 90)

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26 (a) Monastery of P
plan (after Tule-kov,

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27 (a) Monastery of Kurdiali, plan (after

of Rila, plan (after Tule-kov, Arhitekt
of the Theotokos, refectory plan (top)

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28 Refectory tables: (a) Great Lavra on Mount Athos; (b) St. John the Theologian on Patmos; (c) Nea Moni on
Chios (after Orlandos, Monasteriake, figs. 65-67); (d) Treskavac near Prilep (after Popovid, Krst, fig. 10 1c)

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 285

facing each other. From the structural p

rectangular hall divided into bays, eithe
of its interior was a single long masonry
lar in shape, as in St. Symeon's commun
furniture within the refectory because it
mance of the refectory ritual. It was th
meals. The interior decoration of the wa
from the fresco remains of painted cross
above, the restricted painted decoration w
lead to the conclusion that the refectory
monastic complexes of Egypt. It was def
In the monastic communities of Palest
desert, the location of the refectory was
objectives was to provide a convenient pa
of the earliest monasteries, founded by M
located northwest of the church, close to
ed Deir it was placed near a group of sac
two types of monastic community, lavra
ian monastic world of the fourth to sixt
to the skete organization of Egypt, in w
gathered only once a week for communa
Palestine, as elsewhere in the Christian w
ments in which the monks lived accordin
the refectory, or gathering place for th
church building. Recent archaeological ex
any examples of a refectory building,26 b
the Sunday liturgy.27 In the Life of St. E
Theoctistus founded the community i
church as well as in the refectory.28 From
Fidus built a koinobion surrounded with
tory, and built the new church above it."'29
In the fourth century on Sinai, there w
site of the Burning Bush. They were the
St. Catherine monastery established in th
ered in the garden near the Burning Bush
evident that in the Holy Land, as in Egyp
meal, whether held in lavrai or in koinob
for the absence of material remains of la

25Cf. Y. Hirschfeld, TheJudean Desert Monasteries

esp. 190-96; J. Patrich, Sabas, Leader of Palestinian
26Cf. Hirschfeld, Desert Monasteries, 190.
27 Vita sancti Gerasimi anonyma, ed. K. M. Koikyli
28Cyril of Scythopolis: The Lives of the Monks of
Mich., 1991), 13, col. 18.
29Ibid., 61.
30Cf. J. Wilkinson, Egeria's Travels to the Holy Land (Jerusalem-Warminster, 1981), 96.4.8.

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286 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

lavrai were served in the courtyard in front of the church, in an o

some light shelter. If the building was especially constructed of wood
would not have left any material traces. A parallel can be found in
holy men near the Burning Bush for communal meals.
One of the best preserved sixth-century monastic refectories in
was that in the monastery of Martyrius."3 The building was located
of the monastery next to the burial cave and linked to the main ch
The architectural plan of the refectory was of a basilical type: a vast
two rows of stone columns supporting the upper gallery and timbe
(Fig. 4). The dining room had a mosaic floor and plastered walls deco
inscriptions painted in red."2 A dedicatory inscription in Greek was
at the main entrance to the building. Of the refectory furniture only
with reddish plaster have been preserved. The arrangement of table
of the lectern remain unknown.

Another monastic refectory of a different architectural plan is found in the comp

at Khirbet ed Deir (Fig. 5a)."3 The dining hall was situated west of the cave church, clo
to the cave containing the founder's tomb, recalling the position of the refectory at t
monastery of Martyrius. The refectory was a two-story building with an elongated, n
row rectangular plan. The kitchen was located on the first floor, while the dining ro
for the community was on the second. Structurally it was a stone building with row
pilasters along its longitudinal walls dividing the space into eight bays, probably wit
series of transverse stone arches. Only scattered remains of the original mosaic floor h
been retrieved in the debris on the ground-floor level.34
In the monastery of Castellion in the Judean desert,35 the refectory was located w
of the church (Fig. 5b); it was a large hall attached directly to the west wall of the chur
In another sixth-century monastic complex at Beit She'an, the refectory was located n
the main church, directly opposite the church building.36
In the Holy Land, as in Egypt, the monastic refectory and the communal meal ha
close links with the church and the liturgy performed there, or with the burial cha
that served as another important sacred space within the monastery. All of the mentio
examples stress the functional links between the church and the dining hall. In a cla
fication of special areas within the monastic enclosure reserved for buildings with diff
ent functions, the church and the refectory always represented the sacred zone of t
complex.
In Syria, monasticism in both its anchoretic and cenobitic forms was highly devel-
oped as early as the beginning of the fourth century."7 One of the earliest koinobia in the
region of Antioch was founded in the district around Gindarus around the year 330.38
Like a typical cenobitic Syrian monastery, it included a tower for the seclusion of the
31Cf. Hirschfeld, Desert Monasteries, 91ff.
32Ibid., 192.
33Ibid., 194-95.
34 Ibid., 41.
35 Ibid., 52.
36G. M. Fitzgerald, A Sixth-Century Monastery at Beth Shan (Scythopolis), IV (Philadelphia, 1939), 1-2.
37Theodoret of Cyrrhus: A History of the Monks of Syria, trans. R. M. Price (Kalamazoo, Mich., 1985).
38Ibid., II.9 and p. 35, n. 8.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 287

monk-founder, or father superior, alongside

place, dwellings for the monks, and a hoste
An indispensable part of the monastery
served as a place for the monks' daily man
was also used as an assembly hall for the b
together weekly for spiritual training. Thi
Rabbula,40 also included a communal meal.
monastic building: vast rectangular stone b
angular halls with a porch, at times surrou
could have one or two stories. Porches were
any decoration. Pillars were simple, withou
porticoes remains unknown.42 There has
mostly in connection with monastic pilgrim
not succeeded in determining their use.43 T
nastic communal building, in relation to th
among Syrian koinobia. They could be locat
significant also that these buildings are ofte
asteries or even with burial chapels. In a m
dating from the fifth and sixth centuries, t
of the church. The stone building was re
surrounded by porticoes (Fig. 6).44 The mos
wing, where the funerary chapel was placed
along with two additional tombs situated
building contained a vast monastic hall. A
monastic hall (refectory) and burial place c
its church dating from the beginning of th
Qal'at et Touffah, the multipurpose monast
ing on its north side, forming a separate c
monastery complex (Fig. 7b).46
Although refectories in Syrian koinobia w
they were located in proximity to the churc
that the monastic refectory in Syria, as in
related to the sacred space of the monastic
in Tell Bi'a (Syria) have brought to light a
The rooms located north of the church inc
with stone slabs and containing omega-shap

39Cf. I. Pefia, P. Castellana, and R. Fernindez, Les ceno

40Cf. D. G. Turbessi, Regole monastiche antiche (Rome
41Pefia, Castellana, and Fernindez, Les cenobites syrie
42Cf. G. Tchalenko, Villages antiques de la Syrie du No
43Cf. Pefia, Castellana, and Fernindez, Les cinobites sy
44Ibid., 181ff.
45H. C. Butler, Early Churches in Syria (Princeton, N.
46Cf. Pefia, Castellana, and Fernandez, Les cinobites sy
47Cf. H. Weiss, '"Archaeology in Syria," AJA 98.1 (1

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 288 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

the benches suggests that round table slabs were used in the refecto
rior arrangement was also employed at St. Symeon's monastery in

THE REFECTORIES OF ASIA MINOR

In the broader context of the Byzantine monastic world, Asia Minor played a signifi-
cant role. In the fourth century, Basil the Great, later the bishop of Caesarea, had the
most important impact on the development of the cenobitic communities in the Byzan
tine Empire, especially in Asia Minor.48 His well-known "The Longer and the Shorter
Rules" became the foundations of the development of Byzantine cenobitic life.49 Unfortu
nately, St. Basil's Rules do not explicitly mention the monastic refectory, and we mus
look to a hagiographic text for literary evidence on early Anatolian refectories. The sixth
century Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon, who lived in Galatia and founded a monastery
there, describes the commemorative meal held annually in his monastery on the Satur
day when "the Ascension of Our Father-Lord Jesus-Christ was celebrated."50 Unfortu-
nately, the vita provides no information about the position and architecture of the refec
tory building, but it does state that the meal took place after the conclusion of the liturgy.
In another region of Asia Minor, southeast of Iconium, the mountainous district called
Kara Dagh rises from the level Lycaonian plain and contains various ecclesiastical r
mains. On the site of Maden Sheher, known in the scholarly literature as Bin Bir Kilis
(Thousand and One Churches), a great number of monasteries once existed.5' According
to the archaeological evidence, the earliest monastic structures in this region may b
dated roughly to about the middle of the fifth and the early sixth centuries.52 In a se
cluded valley (on the Deghile site), several monasteries were gradually built. Founde
probably at the beginning of the fifth century, some of them increased in size during th
sixth and later centuries.53 The refectory buildings were identified in only two sixth-
century koinobia there.54 In both monasteries, buildings were grouped around vast rect-
angular courts and included large halls serving as refectories. One of the refectories w
an elongated rectangular hall with centrally arranged piers (Fig. 8a). Two square piers
alternated with one cruciform pier. The cruciform piers carried transverse arches across
the barrel vault.55 This refectory has not survived in its entirety, as the eastern and mo
of the southern walls are missing. The building was located on the southwest side of th
monastery, opposite the main church, but not very close to it. The reason for this distan
location of the refectory is that the monastic complex, including the church, had severa
different building phases.56 It is certain that the church and the rest of the buildings
cannot be regarded as the product of a single comprehensive plan. Only archaeological
excavation could bring to light the original arrangement of the buildings in the complex

48W. K. L. Clarke, Basil the Great: The Ascetic Works of Saint Basil (London, 1925); M. M. Wagner, Saint Basil
Ascetical Works (New York, 1950); Frazee, "Anatolian Asceticism," 16-33.
49PG 31:905ff.

50A. J. Festugiere, Vie de Thdodore de Sykdon, SubsHag 48 (Brussels, 1970), 88-89.

51Cf. W. M. Ramsay and G. L. Bell, The Thousand and One Churches (London, 1909).
52Ibid., 21-22.
53 Ibid., 12-13.
54 Ibid., 468ff.
55 Ibid., 200ff.
56 Ibid., 199ff.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 289

and probably the location of an older ch

tory. In the other monastic settlement in
location, near the church, on its west sid
plan, with a barrel vault and two ribbin
In the monastery of Alahan (late 5th ce
refectory that served the monastic com
monastery.58 This location confirms the
of the church building in yet another r
A monastic center northeast of Mileto
and on Mount Latros, was an important
century. Architectural remains of the
and koinobion types of settlements exi
awaits study. Among the problems still
their locations, architectural plans, and
ing with protruding apse was found in t
on the island of Herakleia (Figs. 9, 10, 1
interpreted in the scholarly literature a
logical excavation and proper architectur
clusion. On the basis of the existing pla
refectory rather than a chapel. The pri
of the buildings were not exclusively o
were chapels. Their locations within the
on the island of Herakleia, the buildin
opposite the main church (Fig. 1 la), th
plex at Stylos, the same type of building
in its vicinity (Fig. 10). This could also
lavra of Kellibaron and in the complex
as refectories were incorporated into th
building is not yet archaeologically def
several successive churches and chapels
mind that we are dealing with a lavra c
refectory building to have been located
ment. On the other hand, a T-plan for a
tian East. If we recall yet another unus
plan from Mount Athos-we could envis
functional developments in both enviro

57Ibid., 221-29.
58M. Gough, "Alahan Monastery--Fourth Prelim
lated recently that Alahan was not a monastery a
41 (1991), 297-300.
59Cf. T Wiegand, Der Latmos (Berlin, 1913); R. Ja
iglises et les monastkres des grands centres byzanti
asteries of Mt. Latros and Their Architectural Deve
1050-1200, ed. M. Mullett and A. Kirby (Belfast
60R. Janin thought that T-shaped buildings cou
interpreted the same buildings as chapels: Der L
61 On the cruciform refectory of the Great Lavr

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 290 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

fortunately, systematic archaeological research into the monastic c

has not been undertaken, thus creating a significant lacuna in ou
Research in another part of Asia Minor-Cappadocia-has pr
about cenobitic communities in the tenth and later centuries.63 T
tion of monasteries is in the mountainous part of Cappadocia, wh
constituted a significant group. Especially important are the mon
Goreme valley.
In recent scholarship, an entire group of Cappadocian monaste
the name of "the Refectory Monasteries," as the refectory was th
ture, after the church, in the complex.64 One of them is the elev
Kilisesi monastery (Fig. 12a).65 In the linear arrangement of the
cave complex, the refectory had a second position in a row of ro
the church itself. The dining hall was rectangular; its front wall i
ing. The rock-cut furniture is the only remaining interior eleme
refectory clearly testifies to its significance for the community
functional sense.

The group of small cave monastic complexes in the Gdreme valley also had rock
cut refectories (Fig. 12b). The main characteristic of these rooms is the lack of exteri
architectural articulation. The interior consisted of a rock-cut elongated rectangu
space with rock-cut furniture on one side of the room. The long table in each refecto
was flanked by benches. In some of the dining halls, frescoes have survived, as in Qarik
Kilise monastery.66
The functional disposition of the refectory and its relation to the church in Cappad
cian monasteries were similar to those in other regions of the Christian East. The refec
tory therefore, as elsewhere, was the most prominent space in the complex after the
church itself.

THE REFECTORIES OF ARMENIA AND GEORGIA

The first cenobitic monasteries in Armenia were founded in the early fourth century.
Monasticism developed there under the strong influence of Eustathius of Sebaste and of
St. Basil the Great.67 At the time of the great ecclesiastical leader Nerses, in the fourth
century, monasticism flourished in Armenia. This was especially true in the region of

62The newest scholarly literature is more relevant for churches than for monastic architecture; cf.
S. Hill, "The Early Christian Churches of Cilicia" (Ph.D. diss., University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1984);
T. A. Sinclair, Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey, 3 vols. (London, 1987-89); H. Hellen-
kemper, "Early Church Architecture in Southern Asia Minor," in Churches Built in Ancient Times, ed. K. Painter
(London, 1994), 213-38.
63L. Rodley, Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia (Cambridge, 1985).
64Ibid., 151ff. It seems that a more appropriate name for this group of monasteries would be koinobion
monasteries, as the main characteristic of the cenobitic community is the refectory.
65 Rodley, Cave Monasteries, 151-57.
66Cf. N. Thierry, "Une iconographie inedite de la Cine dans un refectoire rupestre de Cappadoce," REB
33 (1975), 177-85.
67Cf. N. G. Garsofan, "Nerses le Grand, Basile de Cesarbe et Eustathe de Sebaste," Revue des itudes arms-
niennes 17 (1983), 145-69.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 291

Taron, where St. Kint was one of the fou

munal way of life practiced in monaster
in solitary communities in caves or in in
chaeological remains of Armenian monast
where cenobitic life was practiced in the
time rebuilt, enlarged, or even replaced
the original layout."0 The refectories in
many of them date from the eleventh to
tant structural characteristics of Armenian
ing with stone cross-arches, with openin
built in 1248.72 The refectory, located w
14), was a spacious rectangular hall divide
lar piers placed in the center of the room
openings in its center. The use of stone
construction technique and the internal
architectural development. Similar const
the monastery of Halbat (10th-13th centu
Georgia, neighboring Armenia to the no
the Christian East. Several refectories hav
ing in date from the eighth to the tenth
in 750, the refectory was located on the
covered with a barrel vault supported by
found on the south wall of the eastern b
was AMot IV Kuropalates.75 A refectory
complex of the eighth-century monast
divided into ten bays by a central row of
In the mountainous regions of Georgia
tubani, two thirteenth-century refectori
settings resemble the refectories of Cap
two longitudinal masonry tables have b
placed table (Fig. 16b). The interiors of b
of which remains may still be seen on the
part of the interior setting. One such nic
table and was a kind of apse.

68Cf. G. Amadouni, "Le r1le historique des hi6ro

69Cf. The Epic Histories Attributed to P'awstos B
bridge, Mass., 1989), 239, xvi.
70Cf. P. Cuneo, Architettura armena dal quatro al d
71S. Mnacakanjan, "I complessi monastici dell'Arm
Arte Armena (Bergamo, 1975), 527-36; 0. Khalpakh
turnoe nasledstvo 3 (1953), 130-47.
72A. Zarian, Haghartzin, Documents of Armenian
73Cf. Cuneo, Architettura armena, 746 (147).
74Cf. W Djobadze, Early Medieval Georgian Monaste
75Ibid., 17ff.
76Ibid., 29ff.
77Cf. A. Vol'skaja, Rospisi srednevekovykh trapeznykh Gruzii (Tbilisi, 1974).

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292 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

Armenian and Georgian monastic refectories developed as part

community practices under Byzantine influence. Apart from the re
their architectural solutions, their location relative to the church bu
rior decoration remained, as elsewhere in the Christian East, within
their communities.

THE REFECTORIES OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND GREECE

The early developments of monastic refectories in the great urban centers of the
Byzantine Empire, especially in Constantinople, unfortunately remain unknown. Futur
archaeological excavations of numerous urban monastic communities will be of crucial
importance in that regard.
The close relationship between the church building and the refectory continued in
later centuries, as can be seen on Mount Athos, where St. Athanasius founded the Great
Lavra in the tenth century. Here a cruciform refectory faces the triconch church in th
most direct manner, both buildings being arranged on the same east-west axis (Fig. 17).7
According to the written sources, Athanasius built the Lavra refectory with twenty whi
marble tables at each of which twelve monks could be seated.79 The central position of
the church within the koinobion was not Athanasius' invention, but the placement of th
trapeza directly facing the main church portal was probably his contribution. The Gre
Lavra represents a developed model of Byzantine koinobion that became a paradigm fo
most Athonite monasteries and monasteries elsewhere within the Byzantine sphere of
influence, where refectories were typically located in the western part of the enclosure
near the church. The most striking parallel to Athos is found in the fourteenth-century
Serbian monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren, a foundation of Tzar Stefa
Du'an. The cruciform refectory there, with its location on the west side opposite the
main church, was definitely based on the Great Lavra model.80
The longer west arm of the cruciform Lavra refectory terminated in an apse, resem
bling that of the katholikon (Fig. 18). The structural form of the building followed th
plan, as the vast hall was covered with a cruciform wooden trussed roof. The main en-
trance, perhaps tripartite and monumental, faced the main entrance to the church.81
The spatial disposition of the refectory and its architectural design emphasize the stron
interrelation between these two buildings within the monastic complex.
In the eleventh century in the monastery of Hosios Loukas, a monumental refectory
was built on the south side of the katholikon (Fig. 19a).82 The trapeza was a vast single
aisled hall with an apse at its east end. Two-light windows were placed along its longitud
nal walls. The main tripartite entrance was in the western short wall. No traces of tab
masonry were found, but it has been proposed that a single axially placed longitudinal
dining table once existed.83 The masonry was a combination of brick and stone, while
the semicircular arches forming the windows were of brick alone. With regard to its

78Cf. P. M. Mylonas, "La trap6za de la Grande Lavra au Mont Athos," CahArch 35 (1987), 143-57.
79Vitae duae antiquae Sancti Athanasii Athonitae, ed. J. Noret (Louvain, 1982), Vita B, chap. 25, 20-25.
80oCf. Popovid, Krst, 262-64.
81Cf. Mylonas, "La trap6za" 152.
82E. G. Stikas, To oikodomikon chronikon tes Mones Hosiou Louka Phokidos (Athens, 1970), 209ff.
83Ibid., 210, fig. 103.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 293

building technique and architectural

many similarities with its katholikon. Th
stressed the spatial and functional relat
Another eleventh-century Byzantine m
Loukas was at Nea Moni on Chios, wher
side of the katholikon.84 The trapeza has
it was rebuilt several times over the cou
masonry table, and the eastern apse are
structural fabric. The dining hall was a
covered by a barrel vault and terminati
19b). The interior articulation is domin
longitudinal axis and flanked by longitu
table was entirely covered by marble sl
locations of the refectories at Hosios
model within a wider monastic commun
and the trapeza.
The Byzantine monastic compound o
the Theologian was established in the el
Christodoulos, built a complex that his
its history.86 The twelfth-century refe
southeastern side, was an elongated, sin
at its north end. This hall was intersect
that also terminated in a semicircular ap
stone wall with a door leading into the
placed along the longitudinal axis of the
of the dining hall, providing easy comm
the structural articulation of the buildi
period the refectory apparently had a w
by a domed construction over the midd
the vaults along the north-south axis an
construction was supported by lateral bli
of the original wall painting. The secon
the vaults. The style of the frescoes sug
teenth centuries for their two successive
of the apse reveal the emphasis placed o
The centrally placed table in front of t
for the hegoumenos of the monastery or
Eleventh-century Byzantine refectori
tios (Fig. 20b), and elsewhere in the emp

84Cf. C. Bouras, Nea Moni on Chios: History and A

85Ibid., 170.
86A. K. Orlandos, He architektonike kai hai byzant
1970); E. Kollias, Patmos: Mosaic Wall Paintings (A
A. D. Kominis (Athens, 1988).
87Cf. Orlandos, He architektonike, 93-103, 175-2

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 294 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

at Nea Moni.88 In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Mount

region of Thrace became a significant monastic center.89 Rece
tions there have brought to light a monastic complex situa
Sostis.90 The refectory excavated there was located on the west
site the katholikon and its main western portal. The building ha
plan, with a semicircular protruding apse on its north side
the refectory location and plan, the monastery on Mount P
architectural model as elsewhere in the empire. It seems that
eleventh and twelfth centuries refectory building throughout
fied: a long hall, most often without an aisle and terminating
century on Mount Athos, the refectory in the monastery of
model.91 Its location to the west of the katholikon, with the entran
ern portal of the esonarthex, resembles the spatial relations e
Lavra. The Chilandar trapeza was an elongated, aisleless hall wi
cular on the inside and polygonal on the exterior at its north e
tion of its main east facade can be reconstructed from the scatt
nal two-light windows in the lower zone and the alternating bl
openings in the upper zone. In the interior, marble tables of t
(sigmata) as in the Great Lavra existed until the eighteenth ce
replaced with wooden ones.92 Remnants of thirteenth-century
served in the upper zone of the north tympanum, today hidd
modern ceiling.93
In the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries in Mist
to be built on the same plan, as can be seen in the monastery
south of the main church, as at Hosios Loukas or Nea Moni,
single-aisled elongated hall with an apse at its east end (Fig
south walls also have semicircular niches paralleling the arches
facing the church was articulated by pilasters on the exterior.

THE REFECTORIES OF SERBIA AND BULGARIA

The architectural refectory types established in Byzantine m

into the Balkans from the tenth century on. The kingdoms of
tian states that developed under strong Byzantine influence, e

ssFor a survey of the monastic refectories in Greece, cf. A. K. Orlandos, Mona

(Athens, 1958), 43-60.
s9P. Soustal, Thrakien (Thrake, Rodope und Haimimontos), TIB 6 (Vienna, 19
90Cf. N. Zikos, "Apotelesmata anaskaphikon ereunon sto Papikion oros," B
14.2 (1989), pls. CCLVI-CCLXXX.
91Cf. S. Nenadovid, 'Jedna hipoteza o arhitekturi hilandarske trpezarije," Zb
14 (1963), 1-11.
92V. G. Barskii, Vtoroe poseshchenie Sv. Afonskoi gory (St. Petersburg, 1887), 41
93Cf. V. Djurid, "La peinture de Chilandar 'a l'6poque du roi Milutin," Hilan
esp. 41-62.
94G. Millet, Monuments byzantins de Mistra (Paris, 1910), esp. pl. 16.2.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 295

communities within the Byzantine mona

Mountain of Athos made an especially im
The refectory in the monastery of Dju
twelfth century.95 Located south of the
with an apse at its short east wall (Fig. 2
vealed the original stone frames of the
colonnettes and Romanesque capitals. The
sembles the similar decorative solution f
Not far from Djurdjevi Stupovi surviv
with a monumental refectory from the
the Nemanjid dynasty, the archbishop S
complexes. For example, the great dining
in the Athonite communities.96 The sing
of sigmata of the Mount Athos type and
In the thirteenth-century monastic fou
is worth noting.97 Located northwest of th
main western church entrance (Fig. 24a)
St. Stephen in Banjska, the refectory wa
facing the katholikon.98 Built in alterna
Byzantine-Constantinopolitan constructi
with side benches (Fig. 24b). In the niches
painting were found.
The most interesting refectory in medi
angels monastery near Prizren, a fourtee
The cruciform refectory here, as already
(Fig. 25).
On the territory of the First Bulgarian Empire, a great number of monasteries were
founded in the late ninth and tenth centuries, most of them concentrated in or around
the urban centers of Pliska and Preslav. One of the most prominent monastic centers was
at Patleina-the monastery of St. Panteleimon.'00 Founded and built between the late
ninth and early tenth centuries, Patleina had a refectory situated on the south side of the
complex (Fig. 26a). It was an elongated rectangular building divided into three compart-
ments without an apse. At Great Preslav, on the site of Tuzlalaka, another monastic com-
munity was founded in the late ninth to early tenth century.'0' Over the course of time,
in the later medieval epoch, the monastery, and especially the church, were rebuilt. On

95Cf. Popovid, Krst, 242ff.

96 Ibid., 243.
97Ibid., 250ff.
98 Ibid., 255ff.
99Ibid., 262ff.
'00J. S. Gospodinov, "Razkopki v Patlejna," Izvestiia na bulgarskiia arkheologicheski institut, BAN 4 (1914),
113-28; S. Vaklinov, Formirane na starobulgarskata kultura VI-XI vek (Sofia, 1977), 204ff; N. Caneva-Defevska,
Curkvi i manastiri ot Veliki Preslav (Sofia, 1980), 140ff.
'0' Vaklinov, Formirane, 206ff; Caneva-Defevska, Curkvi, 136ff; T. Totev, Manastirut v "Tuzlalaka"-Centur na
risuvana keramika v Preslav prez IX-X v., Razkopki i proucEvanija 8 (Sofia, 1982), 5-78.

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 296 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

the southeast side of the complex a great cruciform building was

It is not yet clear from the archaeological data whether this buildi
tory or perhaps as the residence of the hegoumenos.102 If it is a refect
the impact of Mount Athos in the northern Balkans, illustrating th
Lavra model.

In the twelfth-century monastery in the region of Kurdiali, a refectory was exca

on the east side of the church.'03 It was a single-aisled long hall with an apse on its
side (Fig. 27a). The refectory in the monastery of St. John of Rila within the urban c
of Turnovo utilized a similar architectural plan.1'04 Located on the southeast side o
church, the refectory had an apse that was semicircular on the interior, while its ext
articulation was polygonal (Fig. 27b).
The early-fourteenth-century dining hall in the monastery at Apollonia (in Alb
had an unusual triconch plan.'05 The refectory was located in the west part of the
plex (Fig. 27c). The main entrance to the dining room faced the main entrance to t
church. The interior of the building was decorated with frescoes. The three facades
articulated with small apses of stone and brick. The upper zones of the walls were
cuted in the cloisonn6 technique with two vertical bricks separating blocks of stone.
different building techniques visible on its walls suggest that the refectory was rem
several times during the medieval era.
All the relevant data lead to the conclusion that the most popular Byzantine mo
for refectories was articulated on Mount Athos, penetrated into the northern Balk
during the time of Byzantine rule, and remained there in the subsequent period of
establishment of national states.

CONCLUSION

Analysis of the architecture of monastic refectories of the Christian East, and espe-
cially of the Byzantine world, points first of all to a continuous adaptation of an architec
tural model without much change in terms of its general spatial and architectural disposi-
tion. This is evident primarily in the location of the trapeza relative to the church, as wel
as in its plan, which is usually rectangular, often with an apse at one of its shorter ends.
The main exceptions to this formula are the cruciform refectories of the Great Lavra on
Mount Athos and of the Holy Archangels in Serbia. A variation of this design may also
be seen in the triconch refectory of the medieval monastery near ancient Apollonia in Al-
bania.

If we compare the locations of the refectories of the Byzantine world, we can identify

102 Cf. Vaklinov, Formirane, 204-5; N. Tule'kov, Arhitektura na Bulgarskite manastiri (Sofia, 1988), 160ff.
103N. Ovcarov and D. Hadiieva, Srednovekovnijat manastir v Gr. Kurdzali-Centur na episkopijata Ahridos (XI-
XIV v.), Razkopki i prouEvanija 24 (Sofia, 1992).
104Tule'kov, Arhitektura, 163ff.
105Cf. A. Meksi, "Deux constructions du type a trois conques" (French r6sum6), Monumentet 7-8 (1974),
229-46; H. and H. Buschhausen, Die Marienkirche von Apollonia in Albanien: Byzantiner, Normannen und Serben
im Kampf um die Via Egnatia (Vienna, 1976); J. J. Yiannias, "The Palaeologan Refectory Program at Apol-
lonia," in The Twilight of Byzantium, ed. S. CurtiS and D. Mouriki (Princeton, N.J., 1991), 161-74; G. Reshat,
"L'architecture des monasteres byzantins et postbyzantins en Albanie," CorsiRav 40 (1993), 505-18, esp. 539
and fig. 6.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 297

several general characteristics. Some were

incorporated into a group next to the main
Another spatial solution was the placement
related to the church but not physically jo
Syria, the Balkans, and Armenia. Yet other
porated into the monastery enclosure wall;
type is most frequently encountered in Byz
monasteries of the Slavic states in the same
zone of the monastic complex, opposite the
tradition, probably invented in the tenth c
made a strong impact on the rest of Moun
location of the trapeza on the west side of t
Over the course of time in some Athonite
remodeled, using the Lavra dining hall as
Docheiariou).o06
Analysis of the spatial disposition and th
indicate a single universal model applicable t
But at the same time it is possible to discer
from the point of view of the physical relat
freestanding or not, the refectory was alwa
space of the monastery. In some cases, dini
nastic church, in others with a burial cav
in Syria).
Further architectural and structural analysis of refectories could be pursued in two
directions: architectural layout and structural disposition. In a general sense, a plan with
a number of common characteristics was adopted on a wider scale in the Christian East.
Three main architectural solutions can be recognized: a single-aisled elongated hall,
a basilican plan, and a vast rectangular room divided into bays by means of pilasters
or axially placed rows of piers or columns. These commonly adopted models spread
through all the regions of the Byzantine Empire and through the Christian East in
general.
The cruciform and T-shaped refectory plans were quite unusual and became typical
only on Mount Athos, probably on Mount Latros in Asia Minor, and in the Balkans.
Another planning feature of refectories that was not evenly spread through the entire
area in question was the apsidal termination. In Egypt, Palestine, and parts of Syria,
protruding semicircular apses are not found,'"7 but interior semicircular niches were
occasionally found, whereas they could be an element of the plan in Armenia. In con-
trast, in the central regions of Asia Minor and in the Balkans, especially during the
middle Byzantine period, the apse became one of the common elements of a refectory
plan. The lack of archaeological data for the early periods in Constantinople and its
vicinity, as well as for the monastic centers of Bithynia or Pontus, makes it impossible to

106A great number of the Athonite refectories were remodeled in the late Byzantine or even post-
Byzantine period. For the comparative analysis of their plans, see Mylonas, "La trapeza," 146-47.
'07In the St. Symeon monastery and elsewhere in Egypt. In Armenia in the 12th-14th centuries, the
refectories lacked apses.

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298 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

reach a firm conclusion in this regard for these regions. Keeping in

ments in the Christian East, one can speculate that apsidal construc
teristic in Egypt and Palestine. On the other hand, in the monas
empire in the Balkans, an apse was a prominent feature of the plan.
ment in Constantinople was influenced by the great monastic center
can suggest that apsidal refectories may have been common in early
stantinople and its vicinity.
Contemporary palace architecture no doubt had an impact on refec
The Dekaenneakoubita-the banqueting hall with the nineteen couche
Palace of the Byzantine emperors, restored in the tenth century in
stantine VII Porphyrogennetos-was a long hall terminated by an
vaulted niches on either side.'08 Ceremonial features present in the
imperial residences'09 had wider Christian architectural implication
The conclusion may be proposed that a monastic refectory buildi
middle and late Byzantine periods was an apsidal elongated hall,
model in the capital and its neighboring regions, as well as in the B
Regional elements are more discernible in monastic refectories wit
tural composition and architectural design. As in the case of churche
building materials for refectories were stone or stone and brick, de
gional resources. Structural articulation, especially of the upper zon
determined by regional building practices. Barrel vaults strength
arches were widespread, especially in Egypt, but also in other regio
East. Vaulting of bays with low hemispherical domes without drums
Egypt. Similar construction methods, but marked by regional ex
Armenia. Refectories there often had special vaulting over indivi
apex openings in the central part of each bay. Barrel vaults with tr
also popular in the southern regions of the Balkans. Wooden roofs we
ously with vaulting. The basilical refectory in the monastery of St. M
had a wooden roof, as did the cruciform refectory of the Great Lavr
Monastic refectories in the Balkans had mostly wooden roofs."'
The external sculptural decoration of refectories in general also h
cance and regional characteristics. Egyptian monastic refectories
sculptural decoration. Refectories in Syria and Armenia were made
using the same building techniques as the churches. Exterior sculptu
stressed in the articulation of the main refectory portals in Armen
monastic centers of the tenth and later centuries, refectories were of
of stone and brick in a polychrome technique similar to that used i
compares the architecture of refectories and churches, one is struck b

losCf. C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire, 312-1453, Sources and Docume
210.

109N. Oikonomides, Les listes de presdance byzantines des IXe et Xe siecles (Paris, 1972).
"OFor the wooden roof of the refectory at St. Martyrius, see Hirschfeld, Desert M
wooden roof construction in the Great Lavra refectory, see Mylonas, "La trap6za," 1
111Cf. Popovid, Krst, 242ff.
"2As in the monastic refectory in Haghartzin and elsewhere.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 299

between their formal features. Though t

solutions, this did not affect the individ
of secondary sculptural and decorativ
more elaborate in churches, as can be se
where.

Another characteristic of architectural design was the system of measurements ac-

cording to which the buildings were erected. The measuring and design of religious
buildings have often been a subject of study, particularly the proportional aspects of
design. These include the familiar methods of quadrature and triangulation. Monastery
refectories also conformed to certain design modules that were employed in order to
determine their overall dimensions.113

The interior articulation of a trapeza was marked by the arrangement of tables an

the fresco decoration on its walls. Two principal solutions to the seating arrangement
have been noted. In the first case, two rows of tables parallel the main axis, while thr
separate tables were in front of the apse."14 The other solution employed a single contin
ous elongated dining table placed in the center along the main axis."'5 Very often tabl
were built with stone slabs providing the dining surface. One of the shorter sides of th
table slab often ended in a semicircle when there were two rows of tables (Fig. 28a), o
both ends were shaped identically if a single table was employed (Fig. 28b, c). The tabl
design in which one end is curved has been termed the sigma table type (Fig. 28d)
The iconographic program of surviving refectory fresco decoration emphasized the La
Supper, but also featured the figures of monastic saints and scenes from the christologi
cycle, and the Menologion, as has been shown in several studies by J. Yiannias.1"7 It i
interesting to note that "when the nunnery of the Theotokos of Maroules in Constantin
ple was converted to use by monks, the frescoes of female saints that adorned the refe
tory were replaced with images of male saints." "8
In considering the meaning and function of the trapeza in the monastic environmen
one must deal with several different factors: the position of the building in the over
iconographic concept of the koinobion enclosure, its architectural type, its interior ar
rangement and fresco decoration, and, above all, the ritual performed in connection wi
meals. It is known from the written sources-the monastic rules or typika-that comm

"3For the design modules of the refectories, see Popovih, Krst, 366-67.
"4This arrangement of tables is characteristic for Mount Athos and the Balkans in general.
"5The use of a single long table was widespread in the refectories of Egypt, Cappadocia, and Georgia
but also in the region of Chios, on Patmos.
"l6Cf. J. Strzygowski, "Der Sigmaf6rmige Ttisch und der ilteste Typus des Refektoriums," in W6rter u
Sachen, I (Heidelberg, 1909), 70-80; L. Hibbard Loomis, "The Table of the Last Supper in Religious a
Secular Iconography," Art Studies 5 (1927), 71-88; 0. Nussbaum, "Zum Problem der runden und Sigmafd
migen Altarplatten,"JbAC 4 (1961), 18-43; K. Gamber, Domus Ecclesiae (Regensburg, 1968), 37 and 78ff. O
the refectory tables, cf. Orlandos, Monasteriake, 52, figs. 65-67.
"7J. J. Yiannias, "The Wall Paintings in the Trapeza of the Great Lavra on Mount Athos: A Study in
Eastern Orthodox Refectory Art" (Ph.D. diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1971); idem, "The Elevation of th
Panaghia," DOP 26 (1972), 225-36; idem, "The Palaeologan Refectory Program," 161-74; idem, "The Refec
tory Paintings of Mount Athos: An Interpretation," in The Byzantine Tradition after the Fall of Constantinop
(Charlottesville, Va.-London, 1991), 269-309.
"8Cf. A.-M. Talbot, "A Comparison of the Monastic Experience of Byzantine Men and Women," GOTR
30-31 (1985), 8.

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 300 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

nal meals were ceremonial rituals organized in accordance with

refectory semandron sounded to signal the beginning of the ri
emn entrance procession and the seating of church dignitaries
high-ranking clergy who occupied seats of honor. The ritual als
and readings from Scripture or other edifying texts during the
ten data about refectory rules are preserved from the early day
ever, it is certain that communal refectories existed not only in
well, for weekly gatherings of the brethren.
In several scholarly works the origin of the architectural for
traced back to late antiquity and the early Byzantine type of tri
ties do exist in the plan of the building, and the table types w
from some archaeological finds.'23 Differences can be found, ho
of triclinia of the respective periods. The dining space of late a
visually connected, even physically open, to the neighboring ny
atria, which formed an integral part of the environment in w
Just the opposite was true of the koinobion trapeza: it was a c
sively on its interior setting, with hardly any communication w
ment. A limited number of windows on refectory walls admitte
In addition, the participants in the meal were forbidden to en
They had to focus on their prescribed meal and listen to the v
reading from Scripture or another appropriate text.
Bearing in mind all these facts, one must look to another ri
early days of Christianity-the funeral banquet-as a source of t
building and its ritual. This banquet was the agape performe
feasts of the martyrs; the mensa-coemeterium of the early Christia
of vast basilical halls, was the site where these commemorativ
Sigma-shaped mensae have been archaeologically confirmed in
cemetery sites spread throughout the vast Christian East and
the physical part of a funerary ritual that was performed near

"'Cf. Le typikon de la Thdotokos Evergitis, ed. P. Gautier (Paris, 1982) [= RE

Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator, ed. P. Gautier (Paris, 1974) [= REB 3
other monastic typika. Concerning refectory rules in the 18th century, cf. Bar
and fig. 18.
120Cf. Pachomian Koinonia, ed. Veilleux, II, 151.37.
121Ibid., 150.29-34, 151.35-37.
1221. Lavin, "The House of the Lord: Aspects of the Role of Palace Triclinia in the Architecture of Late
Antiquity and Early Middle Ages," ArtB 44 (1962), 1-27; L. Bek, "Questiones Convivales: The Idea of the
Triclinium and the Staging of Convivial Ceremony from Rome to Byzantium," Analecta Romana Instituti Danici
12 (1983), 81-107; Mylonas, "La trapeza," 143-45.
123Cf. J.-P. Sodini, "L'habitat urbain en Grce ta la veille des invasions," in Villes etpeuplement dans l'Illyricum
protobyzantin, Collection de l'Ecole frangaise (Rome, 1984), esp. 375-83.
124Cf. Bek, "Triclinium," 86ff.
125 Cf. R. Krautheimer, "Mensa-coemeterium-martyrium," in Studies in Early Christian, Medieval and Renais-
sance Art (New York, 1969), 35-58.
126Cf. P. Sanmartin Moro and P. Palol, "Necropolis paleocristiana de Cartagena," in Actas del VIII Congreso
Internacional de Arqueologia Cristiana (Barcelona, 1972), 447-58; X. Barral i Altet, "Mensae et repas funeraire
dans les necropoles d'6poque chretienne de la peninsule Iberique: Vestiges archeologiques," in Atti del IX
Congreso Internazionale di Archaeologia Cristiana, II (Rome, 1978), 49-69; K. E Kadra, "Rapport sur les decouv-
ertes en Algerie," in Actes du XIe Congres International d'Archdologie Chritienne, II (Rome, 1989), 1961-67.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 301

mortals and martyrs. Stone slabs, either

for that type of commemorative meal, re
29). The refectory in the St. Symeon mon
slabs arranged in two rows. A similar dis
in the early Byzantine monastic complex
the Mount Athos trapeza used the same t
Going back to the monastic refectory a
its commemorative character. If one reca
in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria, or
commonly located in close relation to
church or a chapel by an appropriate pat
monasteries the refectory was located nea
enclosure, and oriented toward the chu
rules, after prayers in the narthex, mon
closing part of the ritual.'27 It is well kno
ary, providing the setting for the tombs of
dignitaries. According to some typika, th
there. 28 Several Byzantine typika indicate
as they always included an obligatory me
century), we read how a monk chose the
he came out to the refectory-for it w
place in which there are holy images of
out (their arms) in supplication to the Sa
Unfortunately, most of the early refec
traces can be gleaned only through the s
witness to a certain continuity with later
from the post-Byzantine era.'31 Some of
close links with those in church narthex
nias.'32 I do not intend to argue that r
in the course of time. The same evolutio
the elaboration of liturgical functions re
not change their ultimate purpose. Ins
of meaning.
Bearing in mind all available data, one c

'27Cf. Typ. Evergitis, ed. Gautier, 33.9-337ff; Typ.

'28Cf. M. Arranz, "Les prieres presbyterales de l
hida' des defunts," in La maladie et la mort du chrit
129Cf. Typ. Evergitis, ed. Gautier, 77.1080ff; "Le
REB 42 (1984), 97.1290ff; "Le typikon de la Th
119.71ff.

'13Synaxarium CP, col. 560E. The quoted text is a

of the Deesis: On the Question of Representative
131Cf. Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, Embassy to Tame
69ff; Stephen of Novgorod (in his journey to Con
Studite monastery: cf. G. P. Majeska, Russian Travele
(Washington, D.C., 1984), 41.
132H. Brockhaus, Die Kunst in den Athos-Kldste
Paintings," 279.

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302 THE TRAPEZA IN CENOBITIC MONASTERIES

to the sacred rather than to the secular buildings of a monastery

originated from the vast basilical halls of late antiquity, though
clinia. Parallels can be found in church buildings of the period
familiar forms of pagan basilicas, but also from other archite
within imperial palaces.134
From the early communities to the late Byzantine period, t
within the monastic complex always had a special relation to t
or a relevant chapel. Sometimes, as in Egypt, refectories were
church buildings. Their spatial disposition in the monasteries o
of the Christian East and Byzantium can be considered as a cons
bion spatial iconography. The refectory was always the most pro
church in the monastic settlement. Its architectural articulation
late Byzantine developments, contains certain decorative featur
nastic church with which it is associated. This confirms an interaction between the two
buildings at the secondary level of architectural elements as well. The interior decoration
of refectories, whose walls were covered with religious images, makes these correlation
even closer. However, the refectory is not a church, being distinguished from the latter
in its meaning and function. It can be considered as a bifunctional building: regular
meals were served there as well as commemorative feasts. Analyzing fresco programs in
Byzantine monastic refectories, Yiannias summarized their meaning in the form of a
proposition: "The Incarnation of the second Person of the Trinity, effected through th
Theotokos, has made possible our salvation, for which we on our part must practice self-
denial."135 This proposition was closely connected to the ascetic spirit of monasticism in
Byzantium and in the Christian East in general. There a meal has always been a crucial
moment in tracing a path to ultimate salvation. Another aspect also-commemoration-
characterized the refectory procedure. Strict hierarchy in seating the monastic dignitar-
ies at the dining table was observed there, as a part of the refectory regulations. During
the meal, appropriate prayers were recited constantly. For the important Christian feasts,
special prayers and special foods were prescribed for the refectory.'36 In other words, the
trapeza was used for the daily commemorative meal in remembrance of Christian saints
and martyrs, and above all for the commemoration of "Our Lord who made our salvation
possible," the reminder of which the monks bore witness to permanently, especially
through the annual great feasts. The way of performing the commemoration in that
sense was charted long before in the early days of Christianity through the commemora-
tive meal held at Christian graves. The interior appearance of the refectory with its fresco
program and rows of sigma-shaped tables originated in the Early Christian ritual con-
nected with funerary banquets. This brings into focus one of the refectory's principal
functions, commemoration.
The monasticism of the Christian East and of the Byzantine world was focused on
self-denial, mortification of the flesh, a strict daily regime, continuous prayers, and pre-

133The refectory was wrongly classified as a secular building in Hirschfeld, Desert Monasteries, 190ff.
134S. Curcid, "Church and Palace: Did Form Follow Function in Late Antique and Byzantine Architec-
ture?" (forthcoming).
'35Yiannias, "The Refectory Paintings," 288.
136"Typ. Kecharit6mene," 93.46-47ff.

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 SVETLANA POPOVIC 303

scribed commemorations as the means o

where the liturgy was performed and th
on the other hand, was the place where
spatial position in the koinobion close t
axis with the church, clearly testifies to
setting for an integral monastic ritual t
bion trapeza.

Greenbelt

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