Sacred Monastery of Saint Catherine

The Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine in Pallini was founded in 1993 during the tenure of Metropolitan Agathonikos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki. The initial cost for the construction of the katholikon and the guesthouse, on a plot of land measuring 2,276 sq.m., was covered by the nun Aikaterini Pavlea (†2007). During the first phase of the project, the guesthouse was completed and operated for a short period as an orphanage; however, the construction of the katholikon reached only the reinforced concrete structural frame.
As, over the years, a parish congregation developed, attending services in a chapel formed in the basement of the unfinished church, the completion of the monastery’s katholikon became a strong desire of both the local community and the Holy Metropolis. In 2020, during the tenure of Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, Athanasios and Marina Martinos undertook the cost of its completion through AEGEAS AMKE.

The monastery’s katholikon is a cross-in-square church with a dome and narthex. As part of the redesign of the complex by the architectural office P.K.M.M. (P. Koufopoulos, M. Myriantheos, K. Kaskampas, S. Koufopoulos), a new courtyard was created between the two buildings as a targeted architectural intervention aimed at upgrading the quality of the complex and connecting the underground spaces.
In addition, a new entrance propylon was designed in conjunction with the enhancement of the enclosure and the courtyards, as well as the installation of an accessibility lift for persons with disabilities.

The articulation of the church façades was achieved using colored bush-hammered artificiel render with exposed masonry joints, combined with exposed brick featuring horizontal joints in the infill tympana, and white Dionysos marble used for the small columns, window sills, and cladding on the inner façades of the arcades, as well as for the flooring.

In the church, the basement chapel, and the guesthouse chapel, the sculpted marble elements were designed and executed (iconostasis, ambo, solea screens, Holy Tables, bishop’s throne, and candle stand), along with the carved wooden furnishings (sanctuary doors of the church, chapel iconostasis, chapel screens, choir stalls of the solea and chapel, icon stands, and candle boxes), as well as the fixed and movable furnishings of the entire complex.

The project for the redesign and completion of the entire complex—the church, the guesthouse (oikonomion), and the surrounding area—was completed in 2024. The Holy Metropolis dedicated the monastery’s katholikon to Saint Paisios the Athonite, while the basement chapel is dedicated to Saint Catherine. It is the largest church in Attica dedicated to the recently canonized Athonite saint. The monastery has operated as a male monastic community since 2013.

DONATION OF THE NON-PROFIT CIVIL COMPANY AEGEAS

• Redesign and completion of the Holy Monastery complex.
• Furnishing and equipping of the guesthouse, the chapel, and the katholikon of the Holy Monastery.