Time line

The links to the monasteries are to the Wikipedia sites, but go to the references and then to the Mt. Athos website for more information.

963 - The first monastery on Mt. Athos is founded by St. Athanasios.

• 972 - The first charter of the monastic community, the Tragus, is signed by the Emperor John I Tsimiskes and the monks of Mount Athos, officially establishing the coenobitic system alongside the hermitages.
• 975 - The Monastery of St. George is founded by St. Xenophon.
• 979 - The Monastery of the Annunciation is founded by three monks, Athanasios, Nicholas, and Antonius from Adrianople, pupils of St. Athanasios. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 980 - The monastery of St. George the Painter is founded by Moses, Aaron and John, three monks from Ohrid. The monastery takes its name from an early monk, an artist. From its foundation it has been inhabited by Bulgarian monks. This monastery accepts Orthdox men from Oltenia, Muntenia, and Moldava.
• 982 - The Monastery of Iviron is founded by St. John from Iberia (Georgia). Although the population has dwindled to 35 monks, the monastery is still populated by Georgian monks.
• 990 - The Monastery of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste is founded by Blessed Paul, reputedly son of Michael I Rangabe. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and thus gives the monastery its name. The port village of Dafni lies in its territory.
• 993 - The monastery of the Holy Archangels is founded by Bl. Euthymius and dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
• 995 - The Monastery of the Annunciation is founded by Bl. Philotheus and dedicated to the Annunciation.
• 998 - The Monastery of the Presentation of Jesus is founded on the site of the hermitage of Bl. Paul, who had founded the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs.
• 1000 - Upon the death of St. Athanasios, his monastery is renamed St. Athanasios.
• 1002 - Upon the death of St. John, his monastery is renamed St. John the Iberian
• 1014 - The Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul is founded by a monk named Karakalas. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul and thus gives the monastery its name. The monastery is soon deserted.
• 1016 - The Esphigmenou Monastery is founded by an unknown monk
• 1022 - The Monastery of St. Nicholas, the smallest of the twenty monasteries, is founded by Nicetas, an officer of Emperor John I.
• 1031 - On the 600th anniversary of the Council of Ephesus, the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, is named the patron and protector of the Holy Mountain.
• 1045 - Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus signs the second Typikon, in which Mt. Athos is officially termed the Holy Mountain.
• 1058 - Monks from Kiev establish the Monastery of the All-Holy Theotokos.
• 1066 - The monk Kastamonites founds the Monastery of St. Stephen the Protomartyr (twentieth in seniority).
• 1076 - The Monastery of the Forty Martyrs is turned over to monks of the Armenian Orthodox Church, the first instance of a Greek monastery being turned over to non-Greek monks. This monastery also accepts Orthodox men from Azerbaijan.
• 1142 The Kievan monks move their community to the deserted Thessalonikeos Monastery.
• 1169 - The Monastery of the Holy Cross is founded by an unknown person. There is a later re-foundation by Koutloumous, a Seljuk convert in the 14th century. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the the Holy Cross and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 1169 - The Thessalonikeos Monastery is recognized as a monastery independent of Kiev.
• 1183 - The Monastery of St. Nicholas is deserted because of pirate raids.
• 1194 - Cambrian monks land on the shore of the Holy Mountain and are invited to take over the deserted Monastery of St. Nicholas.
• 1198 - The monastery of Chilandar is founded by St. Sava for Serbian monks. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Presentation of Mary and thus gives the monastery its name. This monastery accepts Orthodox men from Bohemia, Slevania, Hungary, Croatia, Dalmatia, Sanjak, Albania, and Xliponia.
• 1257 - The Monastery of New Bethlehem is founded, so named by its founder, Bl. Simon the Myrrhobletes.
• 1292 - The Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul is restored with the help of Emperor Andronicus II and Patriarch Athanasius I.
• 1307-9 - Raids by Frankish and Catalan pirates.
• 1312 - Emperor Andronicus II and the Patriarch Nephon I legislate that the election of the Protos must be approved by the Patriarch.
• 1350 - The Monastery of the Presentation of Jesus is deserted.
• 1358 - The Monastery of the Transfiguration is founded by the brothers Alexy Stratopedarch and John Primikerij, officials of the Byzantine court. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Transfiguration of Jesus and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 1379 - The Monastery of St. John the Baptist is founded by Blessed Dionysios. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 1383 - The Ottoman Turks seize Mount Athos and the first period of Ottoman rule begins.
• 1388 - The Monastery of the Presentation of Jesus is restored by the Serbian monks Gerasimus Radona and Antonios Pegases.
• 1394 - The Monastery of St. Gregory is founded by St. Gregory and named after him upon his death some years later.
• 1403 - After the Turks are defeated at the Battle of Angora (1402), Mount Athos is restored to Byzantine sovereignty.
• 1406 - Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus issues the third Typikon of Mount Athos.
• 1424 - A delegation of monks visits Sultan Murad II in Adrianople. The second period of Ottoman rule begins.
• 1440 - Because of pirate raids, the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul is again deserted.
• 1533 - The abandoned Stavronikita Monastery is sold to Gregorious Giremeriatis, a Thesprotian abbot.
• 1538 - The abbot Gregorios settles at the Stavronikita Monastery, dying in 1540.
• 1544 - With the help of Prince John Peter of Wallachia (who later became a monk in the monastery) and the permission of Sultan Suleiman, the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul is restored.
• 1593 - The authority of the Protos as the supreme administrative and spiritual leader of the monasteries is ended. The Megali Synaxis (Great Council) at Karyes is established as the supreme authority in charge of all affairs concerning the monastic community.
• 1601 - The katholikon of the Monastery of New Bethlehem is built and dedicated to the Nativity of Jesus and thus gives the monastery its new name.
• 1678 - The Monastery of New Bethlehem is deserted because of heavy Turkish taxation.
• 1783 - The Typikon of the Patriarch Gabriel IV is issued.
• 1794 - Ioasaph of Mytilene arrives and begins the restoration of the Monastery of the Nativity.
• 1800-19 - The Russian monks build a new monastery closer to the shore, now the largest on the Holy Mountain.
• 1808 - A new katholikon is built for the Esphigmenou Monastery as part of some general renovation. It is dedicated to the Ascension of Jesus, which gives the monastery its present name.
• 1812-21 - The Russians build a new katholikon dedicated to St. Panteleimon, which gives the monastery its current name. This monastery accepts also Orthodox men from Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, and Crimea.
• 1821-1830 - The Monastery of the Forty Martyrs is occupied by Turkish troops.
• 1870 - The monasteries gain their independence as the Serene Monastic Republic of the Holy Mountain, as a provision of the treaty ending the First Balkan War.
• 1871 - The Holy Synod publishes the Fourth Typikon which establishes the order of precedence of the twenty monasteries that had survived to this time.
• 1872 - The Holy Synod approves and promulgates the Constitution of the Monastic Republic.
• 1878 - The Holy Synod declares unilaterally its independence of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
• 1889 - The Ecumenical Patriarch accedes to the independence of the Monastic Republic from his jurisdiction and consecrates the fourth archimandrite a bishop, thus establishing a "patriarchal" succession on the Holy Mountain.
• 1891 - The katholikon of the Monastery of the Nativity is destroyed by fire and rebuilt in its present form.
• 1896 - The fifteen remaining monks of the Monastery of St. Stephen are transferred to the Monastery of St. Peter and Paul. Monks of the Maronite Rite are invited to occupy the Monastery of St. Stephen.
• 1970 - The Lowland and the Isles are hooked to the power grid of the Hellenic Republic. The monasteries are required to install solar panels.

Order of Seniority (according to the Fourth Typikon):

ineligible to provide archimandrite

1. St. Athanasios
2. Annunciation
3. St. John the Baptist
4. Holy Cross
5. Transfiguration
6. Holy Archangels
7. Sts. Peter and Paul
8. Annunciation
9. Nativity
10. Presentation of Jesus
11. St. George
12. St. Gregory
13. Ascension
14. Forty Martyrs of Sebaste -Armenian
15. St. George the Painter - Bulgarian
16. St. John the Iberian - Georgian
17. St. Sava - Serbians
18. St. Pantaleimon - Russian
19. St. Nicholas - Cambrian
20. St. Stephen - Maronite