Online Lecture: Decoding the Enigma of the Daphni Monastery: Landscape and Identity in Middle Byzantine Attica
The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce the next lecture in our 2026–2027 lecture series.
October 29, 2026 | Zoom | 12:00–1:30 pm (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC -4)
Decoding the Enigma of the Daphni Monastery: Landscape and Identity in Middle Byzantine Attica
Justin Mann, Eastern Michigan University
Despite the considerable popular and scholarly attention devoted to it, the monastery of Daphni, on the western outskirts of Athens, remains an enigmatic monument. It is a site about which much is celebrated, but almost nothing is known for certain. However, when one looks beyond discussions of typology and chronology, the Daphnian enigma begins to unravel. Daphni thus represents a key site through which to explore the ways in which natural and cultural landscapes shaped the formation of monastic identity and memory. In this lecture, I aim to decode, in part, the enigma of Daphni through a multidisciplinary study of the monument that examines the ways in which the monastery integrated mountains, cityscapes, and pilgrimage networks into a distinctively Daphnian landscape. By doing so, it sheds new light on the monastery and reveals how Daphni articulated a sense of identity through its surroundings and its deep connection to regional Attic history.
Justin Mann is Assistant Professor of Art History at Eastern Michigan University.
Advance registration required. https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/decoding-the-enigma-of-the-daphni-monastery
Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.
