Menaions are icons that play the role of the church calendar in the liturgical usage. The second name of the menaion is the monthly sacraments. The figures of saints and compositions of holidays are arranged in rows here. Most often, saints and holidays dedicated to one month were depicted on one icon board, but there are also annual icons that unite all 12 months - a full year circle.
The earliest examples of menaions are preserved in the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai in Egypt and date from the 11th-12th centuries.