Summary
For centuries, the library of the Agiou Pavlou Monastery has been one of the most important Slavic, i.e. Serbian libraries on Mount Athos, beside the library of the Hilandar Monastery. It was formed around 1385, along with the reconstruction and development of the monastery, which was merit of Gerasim Branković and Antonije Bagaš, the two Serbian monks of noble origin. The book collection kept increasing thanks to the contributions of monks, pilgrims, Serbian rulers and noble families. The activity of copying manuscripts by hand was very useful as well. The Serbian rulers from the Lazarević and Branković dynasties, their successors in the South of the former Kingdom of Hungary and their relatives in Wallachia and Moldavia were looking after the monastery. Thanks to their constant financial support, the monastery managed to pull through hard times under the Ottoman rule. The famous Miroslav’s Gospel was rebound in this monastery sometime during the 15th or in the early 16th century, probably at the same time when the Radoslav’s Gospel, which was taken to Russia by Bishop Porphyrius Uspensky in the middle of the 19th century, arrived there. The period of stability and prosperity lasted up to the 18th century, as long as the monastery was maintained by Serbian monks. As a result of a big crisis that occurred at the beginning of the 18th century, the monastery was taken over by Greek monks. Their lack of concern for the Serbian cultural heritage has led to damage and disappearance of a large number of books from the monasterial library. Due to their negligence, many Serbian manuscripts from this library have been destroyed or have simply disappeared. During the 19th century, the monastery was visited by many European travelers and researchers. The most significant of them were Robert Curzon, Viktor Ivanovich Grigorovich, Porphyrius Uspensky, Antonin Kapustin, Leonid Kavelin and Aleksey A. Dimitrijevski. They left valuable testimonies about the monastery and its library. However, they managed to take some of the most beautiful and most precious manuscripts with them, to their countries. The most comprehensive description of the collection of manuscripts and early printed books belonging to the library of the Agiou Pavlou Monastery was given by Leonid Kavelin. It was published first in Russian (1875), and then in Serbian (1877). According to this description, there were 225 books, 45 printed and 180 manuscripts (11 of them on parchment and 169 on paper). In 1902, a fire destroyed the remains of the collection, what was left over after numerous visitors who were picking its most valuable parts and taking them in the 19th century. Consequently, at the moment there are no Serbian manuscripts in this monastery. Fortunately, most of them are preserved, although dispersed, in the libraries all over Europe.

Keywords:
Agiou Pavlou Monastery, Mount Athos, library, Serbian manuscripts, catalogue, Leonid Kavelin, Radoslav’s Gospel, Hilandar, Gerasim Branković, Antonije Bagaš

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