Open Daily 9:00am-17:00pm
Open Daily 9:00am-17:00pm
The Mount Athos peninsula is located in Central Macedonia, Greece. Mount Athos, commonly referred to as Agio Oros in modern Greek, is an Orthodox spiritual center since 1054 and the most important center of Eastern Orthodox monasticism as well as the largest Orthodox community in the world. Ecclesiastically, the community is under the direct jurisdictions of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and enjoys an autonomous statute since Byzantine times. Mount Athos Is home to 20 imposing monasteries and numerous dependencies, some of which are larger than the parent monasteries. Apart from the monasteries and the dependencies, there are caves that still house hermits as they have for thousands of years and several living units or ‘kelia’ that have several monks in each and a small church.The monasteries house around 1,600 monks from Greece and many Eastern Orthodox countries, including Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Russia who live in ascetic life. Most monks are well-educated and speak good English.
Karyes is the administrative center and the seat of the synod and of the civil Administrator of Mount Athos. The territory of the holy community is separated by a fence about 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) in length from the rest of the world and access to women is not allowed. The monasteries of Athos are a veritable conservatory of masterpieces ranging from wall paintings to portable icons, gold objects, embroideries and manuscripts which each monastery preserves. Mount Athos is one of the most beautiful places on earth and a fantastic place to visit if you are a male, spiritual in nature, respectful of tradition and adventurous. From the town of Ouranoupoli at the edge of the frontier between the Holy Mountain and the rest of Halkidki, there are small boats that take visitor to port of Daphne, the official entry point for pilgrims to Mount Athos. A bus goes from Daphne to Karyes in the center of the peninsula, and from there you have to find a way to get to the monastery where you will stay.
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