The life of St Dionysios of Mount Athos
Disciples gradually gathered around him, and together they built a small community dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner. With his brother's help at the imperial court in Trebizond, Dionysios secured the support of the Emperor Alexios the Third for a proper monastery, which grew, over difficult years, into what became known as Dionysiou Monastery.
Pirate and Turkish raids repeatedly set back the young community, and at least once Dionysios spent what wealth he had to ransom monks who had been taken captive. He died in old age around 1390, having spent his last years still seeking help for his beloved foundation, and was succeeded as its guiding elder by his close companion Dometios. He is not to be confused with the much later Dionysius the New of Zakynthos, an entirely different saint of the seventeenth century.
