The monastery of Zografou is located in the northern part of the Athos peninsula and it is surrounded by incredible natural landscape consisted of hills, valleys, and forests. The monastery is mentioned in hand scripts of 980 AD while the founders are considered to be Moses, Aaron, and Ioannis, three brothers coming originally from Ochrid.
The name comes from Georgios Zografos, an official of the region during the foundation period. It comes at the 9th position in the hierarchical ranking of the 20 monasteries of the Athonite peninsula and it is considered Bulgarian since its monks have mostly a Bulgarian origin.
One of the greatest donors of the monastery was the Emperor Michail the Eighth, as well as the leaders of Bulgaria Ioannis Kaliman and Ivan Assen the Second. At the beginning of the 14th century, the monastery was completely destroyed by the attacks of Catalan pirates but it was quickly reconstructed with funds from emperor Andronicus Palaiologos and several leaders from Serbia, Moldavia, and Wallachia.
The main church of the monastery is dedicated to St Georgios. In it, the visitor can admire murals from 1817 and the holy icon of St. George, which is considered to be painted by divine hands. The library is also visitable and includes hand scripts from the 12th century. Finally, at the yard of the monastery is situated the monument of the 26 painters-martyrs.
The number of monks who live permanently in Zografou is almost 30, while there is an opportunity to be accommodated for two days at the monastery but for this, the visitor has to contact the brotherhood and book in advance.