DESCRIPTION
INFORMATION
 
 
The Monastery lies at a short distance to the east of Athens, on a hillside at the foot of Mt. Hymettos. It is enclosed by a high wall with two gates, one on the east and one on the west side. The catholicon was built in the late 11th -early 12th century and was dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin to the Temple. It is a cross-in-square, four-column church, with a dome, and its walls are built in the cloisonne masonry with poor brick ornaments. The domed narthex was added in the 17th century. About the same time, the barrel-vaulted chapel to the north, dedicated to Aghios Antonios, was added, too.

The interior of the church is decorated with wall paintings dating from the 18th century while those in the narthex date back to 1682 and were made by Ioannes Hypatios, according to an inscription.

To the west of the church is a complex containing the kitchen and the refectory. Along the south side of the enclosure a row of buildings is attached. Among the preserved structures is the bath installation, built in the late 11th -early 12th century, with a domed central chamber. During the Turkish occupation it was used as an olive-press. Two blocks of cells are preserved on the west and south sides.

The first Christian center was founded southwest, on the top of a small hill, known as the "Cemetery of the Fathers" or Frankomonastero, where still remain the ruins of an early Christian basilica and of a church of the 10th century. During the Frankish period the church of St. Markos was built there, while in the 17th century, the church of the Taxiarches was erected.

The monastery of Kaisariani had a famous, rich library which was moved to the Acropolis of Athens and destroyed during the Uprising of 1821.

An educational programme designed for children, hopes to acquaint them with the monument.