In the medieval township of Karyes, with its picturesque houses dominated by the Protaton Basilica, the mists of winter weigh as heavy as lead, as if they sought to halt the advance of time. Only with difficulty can one make out the cobbled road leading out of the town to a green hillside in the direction of Koutloumousi. The mist drifts close to the ground, caressing the golden-green leaves of the hazel trees, the slender trunks of the wild chestnuts, “where nature has striven to offer a unique model of magnificence and beauty of form”, the vines and the olive trees, the variety of ornamental trees which betray the hand of man among the natural vegetation. From out of this composition of elements emerges the silent, formidable old guardian of mysteries, the castle wall, from which in turn rise a lofty defensive tower and domes covered in lead. They stare out over the Thracian Gulf, over Samothrace and Imbros and the summit of Athos itself, crowned in white snow during the winter months. The pilgrim pauses for a moment and quenches his thirst at the vaulted fountain, which faces the gate of the Monastery. It was built in 1816 in the form of a house of prayer. The marble relief of the conch bears the words: “O Christ the Word, Transfigured, Saviour, have pity on those who reside herein.” Christ is the life of this place, and its purpose is to bring heaven to a little parcel of earth, and to prepare men for their future life as citizens of heaven.

The gateway to the Monastery is a neo-classical structure, with a fine colonnaded porch. Every period has left its mark here. The iron gate opens at dawn and is locked at sunset. Passing through the vaulted propylon the pilgrim enters the courtyard, where a new world stands revealed, the coming together of the artistic tendencies of a thousand years. Rows of circular arches with decorative brickwork features, corridors and stairways with windows, all in the graceful Byzantine style, look out over the paved courtyard.

The Monastery is laid out in the shape of an irregular rectangle. The northern, eastern and southern sides are occupied by three-story buildings, while against the fortified wall of the western side stands the Refectory, an L-shaped building constructed of stone. In the centre of the cluster of buildings, dominating the other structures, stands the Catholikon (main church), which is the heart of monastic life. It was built shortly after 1369 and is an enlarged version of the older and smaller church. It is the first example on Mt. Athos of the evolved type of Athonite Catholikon.

In a conspicuous point in the courtyard stands the Phiale – an octagon of marble with relief panels, white columns and, in the centre, a marble font, where the blessing of the waters takes place. The Phiale was built in 1813 by a talented sculptor from a workshop on the island Tinos. A little farther on, opposite the entrance to the Catholikon, stands the picturesque refectory building. Matthaios, Patriarch of Alexandria built it in 1767, on the site of the earlier wing, which had been destroyed by fire. It has recently been renovated and a number of monks are engaged exclusively in the work of decorating it with paintings.

Within the Church the atmosphere is one of solemn mystery. The elegance of the surroundings blends perfectly with the seriousness of the occasion: the baroque wood-carving of the altar screen, with its undulating zones, the whole surface seeming to vibrate with the rich life of the relief carvings, and the austere wall-paintings of the Cretan School, dating from the 16th century. We first pay homage to the icon of the Lord’s Transfiguration, and then that of the Panagia Stylarini, in which the Virgin enthroned bears the infant Jesus in her arms. This 14th century miracle-working icon comes from Stylari, in Marmaras, where there was a dependency of the Monastery. The local people called the icon “The Healer”, for it was said to cure all the ailments of people in the region around, and was held in great esteem. The annex chapel is the place of honour of the household icon of the Monastery, the "Fearsome Protection”, painted in the 13th century. The Virgin holds the infant Lord tightly in her embrace, but His face is turned towards the angel who bears the symbols of the Passion. When pirates landed here, intent on plunder, by grace of the icon the Monastery vanished and was spared. Cowering behind barred doors, the monks, their ears ringing with the clamor of voices and firearms from without the walls, were eventually amazed to see that the pirates had left empty-handed. Their only victim was a passer-by whom they had hanged outside the Monastery gate, infuriated at his inability to tell them where the Monastery had gone. Also to be seen here is the Panagia Eleousa, from an old dependency in Serres, long disappeared.

Each afternoon one of the priest-monks brings out the holy relics to be worshipped. Among them is a piece of the True Cross, the foot of Saint Ann (Mother of Virgin Mary), untouched by decay, the hand of St. Gregory the Theologian, the head of St. Alypios, who lived as a hermit for 60 years on a column in the Paphlagonian desert. These were gifts of the Monastery’s first patron, The Great Emperor Alexios Komnenos (1081-1118).

The days and nights of the monks are divided between communal worship, private prayer and study, the chores of the Monastery and relaxation, the latter determined with reference to the stamina of the individual. The monk’s striving for oneness with God commences each day at 2 in the morning, in his cell; at 3 am the service in church begins: Midnight Prayers, Matins, Hours, Divine Liturgy. The life of worship follows a ritual pattern established over the centuries and adjusted to the particular conditions of each Monastery.

The monastery community today numbers thirty monks, while some forty others live in the dependencies of the Monastery. Despite numerous trials and tribulations, and thanks to the support of pious Christians, the Monastery is now on the road of recovery. The new innovations are still guided by the spirit of the traditional rules, while the future of the Monastery is now confronted with a new dynamism, inspired by the spirit of renewal at work in the Orthodox Tradition. The icon painters in the Monastery workshop continue to follow the Byzantine models of the Cretan School. And the old art of calligraphy is still cultivated, faithful to the old tradition, as far as the daily workload of the monks permits. Meanwhile the Monastery, as we pass through a time which tends to ignore the life of the spirit, has been at work building bridges by means of which the Orthodox message can be conveyed, offering old wine in new bottles. First and foremost, however, it perseveres in its main task, that of prayer, the liturgical and mystical reference of all things to God.