Researchers Return to Medieval Monastery in Northern Greece

CHALCIDICE, GREECE—A medieval Christian monastery located on the coast of northern Greece was once surrounded by a wall of granite rocks standing about six feet tall, according to a Live Science report. The excavation of the site is being conducted by a team of researchers led by Theodoros Dogas of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chalcidice and Mount Athos. Team member Errikos Maniotis of Masaryk University explained that a rare medieval saber was discovered at the site about 20 years ago. He thinks the one-edged curved iron weapon could have been lost by raiding Turkish pirates or the monastery’s Byzantine defenders in the fourteenth century. “They both used similar weapons in this period,” he said. The monastery may have been used as a refuge by local people during military events and as a safe place to store grain. Seeds have been found in the lower levels of a tower at the site, Dogas added, along with weapons such as axes, arrowheads, and the saber. Evidence of a fire indicates that the tower was damaged in the second half of the fourteenth century or the beginning of the fifteenth century, he concluded. To read more about Byzantine archaeology, go to "Shipping Stone."