On the sixth place in the hierarchy of the monasteries of Athos is the monastery of Koutloumousion. It is located only 500 meters away from the capital of Mount Athos, Karyes, and someone can walk from Karyes on a stone pavement for only 10 minutes.
The monastery was founded in the 12th century, during the reign of Alexius the First Komnenos. While its name came from the founder Kallisto Koutloumous an official of Turkish (Seljuk) origin who converted to Christianity and was actually the first abbot of the monastery.
At the beginning of the 14th century it was totally destroyed by the Catalan attack and the years that followed were very difficult, especially due to the lack of funding. Only when Chariton from Imbros was abbot and with the financial help of many Balkan leaders, the monastery reached a period of financial, spiritual, and artistic growth.
During the centuries Koutloumousiou Monastery was burnt several times but it was recovering from all the catastrophes, while today it is one of the most visited monasteries of all Athos. Probably among the most important characteristics of the monastery is that the foundations of the main church are on roots of trees and stumps because of the unstable and unsound soil of the region.
Many small churches of the surrounding region belong administratively to the monastery. The most well-known is the one of Panagouda, where the monk Saint Paisios lived until the end of his life.