The Monastery of Zographou (tel. +30 377 61247)
The monastery of Zographou is located at the south-west side of the peninsula. It was built during the tenth century by the monks Moses, Aaron and John from Ohrid. It is dedicated to Saint George.
It occupies the ninth rank in the hierarchical order of the twenty Athonite monasteries. It is inhabited by 15 monks (1990) and is coenobitic (communal). Its monks are all Bulgarian, since 1845, and the services are performed in Bulgarian.
Today's katholikon is a building erected in the 19th century. It was frescoed in 1817. The monastery features eight chapels within the precinct, and eight more outside.
The library is located in the monastery's tower. It features rare manuscripts, Greek and Bulgarian codices, and 10,000 printed books in Greek and the Slavic languages. Its most prized treasure is the codice 1, which contains Bulgaria's first history, written by the monk Paisios in 1745.
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