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Some sources associate the name of "Vatopedi" with the flora of the surrounding countryside (''vatos'' = shrub, ''pedion'' = plain or ground);<ref>[http://www.chalkidiki.com/athos/vatopedi.html The monastery of Vatopedi]</ref> others point to a traditional story in which Emperor Theodosios built the monastery to honor the saving of his son from shipwreck by the [[Theotokos]]; the child was found in a bush (''vato'' = brier, ''paidi'' = child).
The legend says that the [[monastery]] was founded by Saint Constantine the Great. After him, the monastery it was destroyed by Julian the Apostate and in the 4th century the Emperor Theodosios the Great built the monastery, ruins which were found after archeological excavations.The monastery was eventually destroyed again by Arabs in 8th century and was rebuilt in late 9th century by three [[monk]]s: Athanasius, Nicholas, and Antonius, who were nobles from Edirne (AdrianoupoliAdrianople). They spoke with St. Anthanasius of Lavra which told them to rebuild the deserted destroyed monastery of Vatopedi. The major parts of the monastery were constructed either during the Byzantine period or later, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when building reached its peak. The monastery is monumental in size, with a tall wall in which the buildings are placed in triangular form.
==Main buildings ==
