Annie

**Simonas Petras Monastery** This Monestary is located on a cliff in Mount Athos, Greece. The very old church was designed and built by the Greek Architect Vernacular, who lived during the 1800's. He did many other buildings in Europe and in America as well in New York and other states. It is mostly made of stone bricks and wooden framing. It was used to hold nuns, and was a place for them to worship and learn. As well as nuns, it also housed other people who were homeless, and who needed a connection with God. God was a very important aspect of Byzantine life, so having churches like this one was inperitive to their lifestyle and to their community. As the Byzantine Emporers got worse and worse, peolpe started going to church more, as they needed to pray more. This is another reason that people needeed churches that had housing. People wanted to be as close to God as they could, so living in a church was a good sollution. I chose this church becuase of its beautiful backround and location. I thought it was very interesting that they built the monestary on the side of the cliff. It help the church to stand out and separates it from all other church types.

Annie Rau