Holy Monastery of Daphni

The Holy Monastery of Daphni is a Byzantine monastery built in the 11th century, located in the suburb of Chaidari, 11 km northwest of downtown Athens. The monastery is located in the west of Athens, almost halfway along the ancient Sacred Way to Eleusis. The first monastery was built in the 6th century AD, surrounded by solid defensive walls, and is almost square in shape. Together with the Monastery of Hosios Loukas on the island of Chios and the Monastery of Nea Moni, they form a World Heritage Site. Despite their geographical distance, the three monasteries belong to the same type series and have the same aesthetic characteristics. The church is built in a cruciform plan, with a large dome supported by sloping arches to form an octagonal space. In the 11th and 12th centuries, they were decorated with exquisite marble works and mosaics on a golden background, all of which are characteristic of the "second golden age of Byzantine art."