Tzimiskes

The tower of Tzimiskes stands at the south-west corner of the fortified wall enclosing the monastery of Agia Lavra on Mount Athos, a structure raised in two principal phases, the first in the 11th century and the second in 1522. The monastery itself was founded around 963 by St Athanasios, the reformer of Athonite monasticism, with funds from the emperor Nikephoros Phocas, and it holds first place in the hierarchy of Athonite houses. The tower takes its name from John I Tzimiskes, an early patron who in 972 issued the Tragos, the founding charter of the monastic state. It rises four floors to a height of 24 metres, and was renovated in 1325, again in 1522 when the top floor was added, and finally in 1688. The fortification from the entrance to the middle of the southern side survives unchanged since the 11th century, and this tower remains part of that original circuit in relatively good condition.