This still functioning Byzantine monastery was founded between 1351 and 1371 by the priest-monks Markos and Dorotheos Vlatis, from whom it takes its name. Disciples of St. Gregory Palamas, the two brothers came from Constantinople and decided to found a monastery dedicated to Christ Pantocrator (today dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ). Their ambitious project had the backing of a powerful woman, the empress Anna Palaiologina, who sponsored the construction works. Anna Palaiologina, daughter of Amadeo V, Duke of Savoy, had married the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. After his death in 1341 and until 1347, a period marked by a civil war, she acted as regent for her son. In 1351, she established herself in Thessaloniki and ruled the city in true imperial style.