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Vatopedi Monastery — Manuscripts (Codices, Fragments, Scrolls)

Athos - January 1, 2026 - 9:17pm

0. Page function and scope

This page indexes the manuscript holdings of the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi as
material and documentary witnesses.
Manuscripts are treated at codex level where identification is available.
Descriptions are aligned with established catalogues and modern control frameworks.

This page is part of the Vatopedi documentation set:
Vatopedi hub |
Archive |
Printed Books |
Treasury |
Dependencies

1. Quantitative profile and catalogue control

The manuscript library of Vatopedi is one of the largest on
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Modern catalogues and inventories converge on the following control figures:

Total manuscripts: approximately 2,000–2,074 codices
Parchment manuscripts: roughly one third of the corpus
Paper manuscripts: majority, primarily post-Byzantine
Scrolls (ειλητάρια): approximately 25 parchment scrolls

Primary catalogue control is provided by the early twentieth-century
Catalogue of the Greek manuscripts in the library of the monastery of Vatopedi on Mt. Athos,
supplemented by later descriptions and cross-references in Athonite manuscript research.

2. Manuscript classes (structural overview)

Biblical manuscripts (Gospels, Octateuch, Acts, Epistles)
Liturgical manuscripts (Evangeliaria, Psalters, service books)
Exegetical and patristic manuscripts
Canonical and legal manuscripts
Historical and hagiographical manuscripts
Scientific and technical manuscripts
Classical Greek authors
Scrolls (ειλητάρια)

3. Biblical manuscripts — selected codices

AF-MS-ID	Codex / witness	Date	Material	Contents	Features	Notes
VAT-MS-BIB-0001	Codex Vatopedinus 602	late 13th c.	Parchment	Octateuch	164 miniatures	Principal illustrated biblical codex of Vatopedi.
VAT-MS-BIB-0002	Uncial Gospel fragments	9th–10th c.	Parchment	Gospel text fragments	Majuscule script	Fragments associated with Vatopedi provenance.

4. Liturgical manuscripts

AF-MS-ID	Type	Date	Material	Contents	Notes
VAT-MS-LIT-0001	Evangeliarion	10th–11th c.	Parchment	Gospel lections	Used for liturgical proclamation.
VAT-MS-LIT-0002	Psalter	11th–12th c.	Parchment	Psalms with canticles	Marginal scholia present.

5. Exegetical, patristic, and theological manuscripts

AF-MS-ID	Author / type	Date	Material	Contents	Notes
VAT-MS-PAT-0001	Patristic homilies	12th–13th c.	Parchment	Homiletic collections	Standard Athonite patristic corpus.
VAT-MS-PAT-0002	Exegetical commentary	14th c.	Paper	Biblical commentary	Used for monastic instruction.

6. Canonical and legal manuscripts

AF-MS-ID	Type	Date	Material	Contents	Notes
VAT-MS-CAN-0001	Canonical collection	13th c.	Parchment	Ecclesiastical canons	Reference for internal governance.

7. Classical Greek authors

AF-MS-ID	Author	Date	Material	Notes
VAT-MS-CL-0001	Plutarch	12th c.	Parchment	Representative classical survival.

8. Scrolls (ειλητάρια)

Vatopedi preserves approximately 25 parchment scrolls,
primarily liturgical in function and dating from the Middle and Late Byzantine periods.

AF-Scroll-ID	Date	Function	Material	Notes
VAT-SCROLL-0001	11th–14th c.	Liturgical use	Parchment	Indexed as scroll-format witness.

9. Mechanical crosswalk (control shell)

This table provides the AthosForum control framework for manuscript indexing.
Populate catalogue numbers and shelfmarks only when verified.

AF-MS-ID	Catalogue no.	Date	Material	Class	Contents (short)	Notes
VAT-MS-BIB-0001	[catalogue ref]	late 13th c.	Parchment	Biblical	Octateuch	Codex Vatopedinus 602.

10. Bibliographic nucleus (manuscripts)

Catalogue of the Greek manuscripts in the library of the monastery of Vatopedi on Mt. Athos,
Cambridge, early twentieth century.
AboutLibraries.gr — Vatopedi manuscript overview (lib_100).
Standard Athonite manuscript studies referencing Vatopedi codices.

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