Mount Athos Travel Guide

In 1060, Constantine Monomachus ruled that "every woman, every female animal, every child, eunuch, and smooth-faced person" was forbidden access to the "Holy Mountain", (Agion Oros, or Mount Athos). Although such unenlightened edicts have been repeatedly confirmed by subsequent Patriarchs and are still officially in force, visitors need no longer be bearded.

But beyond its controversial history, the tiny peninsula of Athos on the east of Khalkidhiki will always remain spiritually and geographically aloof, and gloriously untouched by the scores of tourists who descend upon Greece and its islands throughout the year.

In 1926, the Holy Community, now comprising upwards of 2000 monks, became a unique monastic republic of sorts, headed by a Holy Council and answerable to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although geographically a part of Greece, it enjoys administrative autonomy, and all monks who join it become Greek subjects, whatever their race.

Athos has been a Christian refuge for hermits and anchorites since the 6th and 7th centuries, long after housing the Greek Gods Zeus and Apollo before they moved on to Mount Olympus. The thickly-forested ridge houses a Romanian retreat which is now dwindling in popularity, but the majority of spiritual activity goes on in the 20 monasteries - 17 of which are Greek, one Russian, one Bulgarian and one Serb.

The detachment from the cut and thrust of the modern world is heightened by the Julian Calendar that guides day-to-day activity (ie: praying), which is 13 days behind the rest of Europe, with each day divided into Byzantine hours of variable length and sunset at 12 o'clock. The result is a temporary retreat from the world for anyone. For the devout, it offers a true glimpse of life wholly devoted to God, and for the lover of art and nature, a glimpse of unique natural beauty. For nearly 10 centuries the fields have lain ungrazed, flowers unpicked and trees untouched by the ravages of goats.