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What it loses in a strict architectural comparison with Dhafni, Kessariani monastery makes up for in its location. Although just 5km from the centre of the city, it is high enough up the slopes of Mount Imittos to escape the nefos and the noise. The sources of the river Ilissos provide for extensive gardens hereabouts, as they have since ancient times (Ovid mentions them); Athenians still come to collect water from the local fountains, though it may have become contaminated and should not be drunk. The monastery buildings date from the eleventh century, though the frescoes in the chapel are much later - executed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In contrast to Dhafni's clerics, Kessariani's abbot agreed to submit to Roman authority when the Franks took Athens, so the monastery remained in continuous Greek (if not quite Orthodox) occupation through the Middle Ages. Today the monastery is maintained by a small group of monks, who allow visits (Tues-Sun 8.30am-3pm; ?2.30). Outside these hours you can while away the time in the well-maintained grounds, full of picnickers in summertime. On the way up to the monastery, which is fairly obvious from the bus terminal, don't overlook the refugee neighbourhood of Kessariani. With an attractively ramshackle aspect, its streets were used as a 1920s location for the Greek movie Rembetiko . You can also catch a glimpse, to the north, of the uniform blocks of Panepistimioupoli, the university campus.
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