Daphni Monastery

Daphni Monastery tickets: which one to buy

Entry is free, which is unusual for a Greek UNESCO site, and there is no ticket office; a guard opens the church on the days it is available. The monastery sits in the suburb of Chaidari, eleven kilometres northwest of central Athens on the old Sacred Way to Eleusis, and is reached by city bus or a short taxi ride.

The complication is opening: after the 1999 earthquake the church was closed for two decades of restoration and it now opens only on limited days each week, sometimes only one, so check the current schedule with the Ephorate of Antiquities before setting out. Guided tours combine Daphni with a hike in the surrounding forest and cost a moderate amount. There is no cafe, no shop and no signage of any use, so bring what you need. The Ephorate publishes changes at short notice, and the tourist office in Athens will usually confirm by telephone on the morning itself.

Visiting Daphni Monastery: what to see

A monastery was founded here at the end of the sixth century on the site of a sanctuary of Apollo destroyed by the Goths in 395; one Ionic column from the temple was reused in the monastery and still stands. The present church dates from about 1100 and its mosaics are among the finest of the middle Byzantine period, ranked with Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni on Chios, with which it shares its UNESCO listing.

In the dome, a Christ Pantocrator looks down with an expression that has been described as severe to the point of terrifying, and the surviving cycle below shows the life of Christ and the Virgin in gold-ground panels. Crusaders held the monastery in the thirteenth century and Cistercians rebuilt parts of it, which is why there is Gothic work in a Greek church. Earthquakes in 1889 and 1999 both did serious damage. The outer walls of the monastery, with their Gothic arcade added by the Cistercians, enclose a courtyard planted with cypress and a ruined refectory.

Daphni Monastery opening hours and the best time to go

Open on restricted days and hours that change; at the time of writing it is typically a few mornings a week. Winter is the safest season for finding it open, since summer schedules are cut by staff shortages. The mosaics need daylight and the church has few windows, so a bright morning is the right time. The surrounding forest, the last significant woodland on the Athens plain, is open at all hours and has walking paths.

Chaidari is a residential suburb with little else for a visitor. Dress code is the usual Orthodox one, with shoulders and knees covered. Photography without flash is permitted. Allow half an hour at the church, longer if you walk in the forest, and combine it with the site of Eleusis half an hour further west. Buses on the Athens to Corinth road stop outside, and the site is on the route of the ancient procession to Eleusis, which can still be walked in sections.