One of the West's Last Bastions of Peace and Serenity?
This autonomous region still flies under most people's radar
Simonos Petras Monastery via Wikimedia Commons: Sofomi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Imagine a rugged, mountainous terrain packed with chestnut, oak, and black pine forests; olive groves; apple, cherry, fig, pear, and quince orchards; watermelon patches; and hillsides run wild with flowers and edible herbs and greens. A place surrounded by the crystal clear Aegean sea.
A place without TVs, little mobile phone reception, and very little Internet use. A place where no one is in a rush. Where there are very few cars. And where video cameras have been welcomed only a few times in the last 3 decades. Where farming adheres to traditional Byzantine methods. Where they follow the Julian calendar and keep Byzantine time.
A place you can only get to by boat.
A place so culturally isolated that life takes on a completely different pace and character. A place where stress isn’t a thing.
Yes, such a place exists.
When people think of European principalities or micro-states, Vatican City is probably the first to come to mind, followed by Monaco, Lichtenstein, and maybe Malta. Places like Andorra and San Marino usually don’t make it onto most people’s radars.
And the Autonomous Republic of Athos even less so.
Background
Located in the northeast of Greece, approximately 70 miles (115 km) from the country’s 2nd largest city, Thessaloniki, the peninsula of Mount Athos—the Greek holy mountain—is a place where time seems to have stood still (in many ways).
Getting there requires a bus to the port of Ouranoupolis or Ierissos to the Mt. Athos port of Daphni, which operates a mere 3 hours each day. After that, you have to hope you’re lucky enough to catch a small bus to one of the monasteries or make your way on foot up the mountain.
With 20 monasteries, numerous smaller communities, and over 2,200 Orthodox monks, this 130-square-mile World Heritage Site is home to exquisite architecture, ancient texts, priceless works of art, and treasures dating back centuries.
Orthodox monks have been drawn to the peninsula since the early 800s BC, and during the Byzantine era, Athos served as a vital monastic center for the Empire. Today, Mt. Athos is the heart of Orthodox Christianity, drawing pilgrims from all over the world.
someone10x, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Access to Mt. Athos
While it may sound like a Mediterranean paradise, Athos isn’t the easiest place to get to or gain entry. As noted by the late Bob Simon of 60 Minutes, it’s a place that “gets more applications than it can handle” and is “harder to get into than Harvard.”
As of 2020, as many as 300,000 visitors flock to the Holy Mountain yearly. The Irea Epistasia, the Holy Oversight, issues visas to 100 Greek Orthodox men and 30 Orthodox men from other countries each day, allowing them to visit during daytime hours. Others seeking to stay overnight must have an invitation from one of the monasteries to include with their visa application.
Mt. Athos issues entry visas (diamonitirion) to two types of people*:
Orthodox Christian monks who wish to move permanently to the Holy Mountain
Orthodox Christian pilgrims who wish to visit the Holy Mountain for 1-3 days
As you can see, a Greek passport doesn’t guarantee entry. All visa applicants must be Orthodox Christian adult males since Athos is considered an avaton (religious site with limited access). In the past, men were expected to grow beards—signaling they were actual males—but the monks rarely enforce this these days. Young boys are permitted only if they come with their fathers, grandfathers, or uncles.
Aspiring monks wishing to move to Mt. Athos must contact their preferred monastery to express their interest, and it often requires several visits before they receive approval. Novices wanting to become monks often have trial periods of up to 3 years before they become ordained and their home permanently established on Athos.
*The only exception is workers who are contracted to come to the island.
Scandal: A Woman Sneaks onto Mt. Athos
Since monastic philosophy and Byzantine law govern the Athonite peninsula, women have been barred for over 1,000 years and are not permitted to be within 500 meters of the coast. The monks view women as distractions from their daily devotional practice.
And since Mt. Athos is dedicated to Mother Mary, they believe her to be the only lady of the mountain, leaving no room for the presence of other females—including domesticated animals. (More that later.)
However, in 1953, a scandal arose when a Greek woman, Maria Poimenidou, dressed as a man, snuck onto Athos for 3 days. Or as the newspaper Embros reported, “the avaton of Mt. Athos has been breached.” (Link includes her photos. Scroll to the bottom of the page.) This result? The Greek government passed a law that threatens women with a year of imprisonment should they try to gain access to Mt. Athos.
St. Panteleimonos Monastery via Wikimedia Commons
Three Types of Monks & Communities
While life on Athos may seem idyllic, particularly in winter when very few pilgrims find their way to the Holy Mountain, not all monks agree on the best way to live. Many of the 2,200 residents live in the larger, older monasteries, aka the ruling monasteries. Of these 20 monasteries, 1 is Russian, 1 Bulgarian, 1 Serbian, and 17 Greek. These monks are used to doing everything together.
The ‘second tier’ are smaller communities, known as sketes, which are connected with one of the ruling monasteries. Lifestyle and living quarters are far more ascetic than the ornate ruling monasteries. These are for monks who still wish to live in a community but have a more traditional, less formal life. These tend to be little settlements of a dozen or fewer cottages built around a courtyard with a church in the center.
The ‘third tier’ tend to be small, basic monasteries (old farmhouses), known as kellia, homes to 1-4 monks each. While they have their own churches, they still rely on a “parent” monastery.
Lastly, the heyschasteria, or what we call hermitages, are nothing more than caves or huts. These monks seek solitude and live lives of profound asceticism. They rarely interact with or see anyone.
An Overview of Monastic Life
With Athos operating on Byzantine time*—one of the last places in the world doing so—the monks begin their day at sunset (00:00 hour) with formal prayers and chanting throughout the night. They usually sleep no more than 3 hours. That said, most monks treat all their waking hours as prayer time, doing everything in praise of God. They believe life is merely a preparation for death; therefore, becoming at peace with everything is essential.
Their work involves tending to the gardens and orchards, clearing and maintaining the footpaths along the Holy Mountain, cleaning, writing, cooking, maintaining the electrical systems, fishing, carpentry, building and repairing furniture, creating devotional arts and crafts, studying ancient texts, and more. Others handle the visas and reservations for pilgrims and welcome them to Athos.
Since the monks adhere to traditional farming methods, everything they consume is organic. Their diet is heavy in fruit, vegetables, and grains. They also consume local fish and shellfish but no meat. Eggs and cheese are brought in from the mainland, as there are no dairy cows, goats, or chickens on the peninsula. This is primarily due to female domesticated animals not being allowed on Athos, just like women. Meals happen early in the day, and there are only two—both during the earlier hours of daylight.
Much like Buddhist monks, Orthodox monks on Mt. Athos generally take a vow of detachment from the outside world, including their relationships. Some write letters to loved ones, but most will not leave the Holy Mountain, even for a relative’s funeral. There are a few exceptions, including a monk who is also a professor, but for the most part, monks commit to giving themselves over to God and Mother Mary.
Restoration Work
Since 2005, over €200 million of EU and other funds have been used to restore the buildings on Mt. Athos, ensuring all who want flush toilets and electricity have them. The little electricity the monasteries once had came from generators, but the peninsula is now transitioning to solar. Some monasteries also have hot water as a result of these restoration efforts.
However, according to Ilias Partzinidis, head of the Centre for the Preservation of Mount Athos Heritage (KEDAK), the solar panels must be installed out of sight of the monks to maintain the aesthetic of the landscape.
Apostle Peter at Stavronikita Monastery on Mt. Athos - Theophanes the Cretan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Modern World Encroaches
While restoring the buildings to their original glory is great, the question begs: is the rest necessary? How many of the monks actually want these conveniences? Or were electricity and flush toilets conditions required by the institutions funding the restoration work?
And then there is the fast-paced galaxy that the several hundred thousand pilgrims that visit Mt. Athos come from. That world of ever-diminishing free time in which people are constantly zipping around as if their lives depend on them rushing. Getting to Athos is something many Orthodox pilgrims squeeze in between their busy work schedules and family responsibilities. They come with their phones and different mindsets, and many expect to be escorted around on newly paved roads by SUVs if they are older or out-of-shape. And they get it, too, particularly if they are generous donors.
With the constant exposure to the outside world, Athos is changing, and not all monks approve. Some monks can be seen running errands via ferry, yakking away on cell phones. Others have fully commercialized their monasteries to the point of selling their wares and products online. And some have money on the brain, despite most of the monasteries already being fully funded by pilgrim donations, wealthy benefactors, and pilgrim commissions for painting icons.
All reservation requests for overnight stays used to be done via mail or one’s church, but now they can also be made by email (for some monasteries) or by calling a landline number.
Even though mobile phones must be switched off in the monasteries, how long before even those spaces are no longer sacred in our tech-obsessed world? Or how long before the big monasteries all adopt central air conditioning and heating? How long before they succumb to a more processed diet?
Over the centuries, Athonite monks t were able to ward off pirates, mercenaries, crusaders, the Ottomans, and even the Nazis (with a little luck), but are they strong enough to keep outside ways at bay?
Only time will tell.
The good news for the traditions of Mt. Athos is that plenty of monks still prefer to live spartan lives, remaining as independent from outside influence, comforts, and technology as possible.
For the sake of preserving such a unique and stunning place, let’s hope they never lose sight of why they moved there in the first place.
Check out the incredible documentary embedded below.
Resources
Recipes from Mt. Athos *You can even order olives, olive oil, and other goods from the Athonite monastery offering these recipes.
CBS - 60 Minutes Documentary Part 1 (from 2011)
Check out this beautifully shot documentary. The “action” starts at 06:25.