The Monastery Church of Daou is an interesting building in a lovable spot. An hour’s drive along the Marathon Road lies the little khan of Pikermi, and from this point a footpath leads through woods and up sloping hill-sides to a grove of noble plane-trees. Here is a ruined monastery of the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and around it are the olives and fields that the Brothers once cultivated. Queen Amalia liked to drive out here, and often had her tent pitched under the plane-trees for her midday siesta. It is strange that modern picnic parties do not follow her steps.
The plan of the church seems to have been somewhat unusual. Its central part had a seven-sided dome with a twelve-sided cupola; four smaller cupolas finished the corners, and these with a small narthex at the south and an apse at the north end completed the compact oblong building. Later–perhaps early in the seventeenth century–an outer narthex was added at the south or seaward end. This is of great strength, considerably higher than the rest of the building, and stands as though spreading out its arms to protect the little church that nestles behind it.
When the monks were driven from Daou they sought refuge at Mendeli, a monastery among the pines on the lower slopes of Pentelicus. Here a small Brotherhood still makes the traveller welcome. The situation is as beautiful as that of Daou, though without the glimpse of treacherous blue sea that cost them once so dear. It is the richest monastic establishment in Attica, and it was the only one to retain its individual privileges when the other monasteries of Attica were put under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Athens ( 1702-7). Here again there are the thriving plane-trees and the clear bubbling spring that make a Byzantine monastery an oasis of delight on a hot day.
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