It is located between the monasteries of St. Gregory and St. Paul, on the southwestern side of the peninsula of Athos, built on a vertical cliff that rises above the sea.

It is the fifth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries and built in the mid 14th century by the monk Dionysius from Koryssos of Kastoria and the Emperor Alexios III Komnenos of Trapezounta who contributed it financially.
After the conquest in 1453, the monastery was benefited by several rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia.
Around 1535, it was destroyed by a fire but was rebuilt and since then is remained virtually unchanged in architecture till today.

The main temple (Catholicon - Nativity of St. John the Baptist) was built during the Abbot Matthew’s abbacy, between the years 1537-1547.
The monastery has a large number of chapels, many of which have murals. Inside the monastery lies the defensive tower, built in 1520, which was used to guard the valuable library of the monastery.
Distinguishes the domed chapel of Our Lady of Akathistos with frescoes by the painter Makarios of 1615 - where is the eponymous image of Virgin, a work by Evangelist Luke.
In the cemetery of the monastery is the tomb of St. Niphon, monk of the monastery, Metropolitan of Thessaloniki and later Patriarch of Constantinople.