Mount Athos map - Detailed map of Mount Athos GREECE - Mount Athos (the holy mountain of Greece)
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The most important thing to know about Mount Athos is that you can't just come here. And if you're a woman, you can't come here at all. In 1926, Athos was declared a Theocratic Republic. Although part of Greece, it is self-governing-hence, the need for an entry permit. Up-to-date information on permits should be available at two websites (www.monachos.nedmonasticism/athos and www.ouranoupoli.com) and at the Holy Executive of the Holy Mt. Athos Pilgrim's Bureau, 14 Karamanli, Thessaloniki. Recently, there have been mutterings that antidiscrimination regulations of the European Common Market may force Athos to open its doors to women, to avoid potential complications, Mount Athos has refused any Common Market funds for restoration of its monasteries. It is highly unlikely that the bureaucrats of the Common Market will prove a match for the monks of Athos and their centuries of tradition.

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Ouranopolis is the jumping-off point for Mount Athos, but unfortunately, it is an increasingly unappealing little town filled with souvenir shops. However, the handsome tower immortalized in Joyce Nankivell Loch's A Fringe of Blue still stands. Joyce Loch and her husband, Sydney, both Quakers, lived in Ouranopolis on and off from the 1920s to the 1960s and worked with villagers and refugees from Asia Minor. For some years, the tower was both the Lochs' home and a weaving school; today it houses exhibits.
There is almost always at least one boat a day at 9:45am from Ouranopolis to Mount Athos. In summer, additional departures are often scheduled. If you can't go to Athos itself from Ouranopolis, take one of the excursion boats that cruise around the peninsula (tickets cost about 20€). The Ouranopolis Port Authority usually has information on the excursion boats. (When Prince Charles visited Athos in 2004, Camilla Parker-Bowles circled the Holy Mount on the Royal Yacht.) The views of the rugged, pine-clad mountain promontory are superb, and you'll be able to see a number of the monasteries, most of which were built between the 9th and 19th centuries. Most look like little villages from the outside, perched on astonishingly high and sturdy stone foundations and surrounded by massive walls. There are presently 20 functioning monasteries on Mount Athos, many visible from the sea.
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The first, and still the most important, monastery, the Great Lavra or Meyistis Lavras ("Lavra" means a community of monks), was founded around 960, and others quickly followed. In 1060, an imperial decree barred "every woman, every child, eunuch, smooth faced person, and female animal" from Athos, which suggests that there had been incidents of inventive nonchastity over the years. In recent years, hens have been allowed onto Athos to produce eggs, and cats to catch vermin.
Today, there are 20 active monasteries, with at least that many again closed over the centuries. Solitary hermits still live on Athos, but most monks follow a communal rather than an isolated life. In fact, of late, monastic life has had something of a revival; Father Gabriel, gardener at the Iviron Monastery, was quoted in the July 28, 1998, Athenian newspaper Katbimerini as saying, "More are interested in becoming monks than we are ready to accept." According to the same story, Father Gabriel has added to his gardening duties the preparation of a computer catalog of manuscripts and icons. When asked if this would take a very long time, he replied, "We've got all eternity."
MONASTERIES ON MOUNT ATHOS
THE GREAT LAVRA The first monastery founded on Athos and hence the foremost, the Great Lavra has the red-painted katholikon characteristic of Athos's monasteries. Its 15th-century frescoes, especially those showing exuberant singers and dancers in the Chapel of Koukouzelissa, are delightful.
THE MONASTERY OF CHELANDARIOU This monastery was founded in the 12th century by St. Sabbas of Serbia. Fortunately, Sabbas's father was the king of Serbia, which guaranteed a handsome endowment. Some scholars think that the lovely frescoes in the church here were done by the same painter who decorated the walls of Agios Nikolaos Orfanos in Thessaloniki
THE MONASTERY OF DIONISSIOU This 14th-century monastery seems to grow right out of a rock above the sea. Its dizzily overhanging balconies are braced by precarious-Looking wood supports Favored by the emperor Alexios III Komnenos, Dionissiou has a superb collection of manuscripts, as well as an icon said to be the oldest on Athos.
THE MONASTERY OF IVERON Iveron, founded in the 10th century, looks from the sea like a medieval hill town-only the hill is actually the monastery's solid foundation.
THE MONASTERY OF VATOPEDI Founded only a decade after the Great Lavra, Vatopedi's long outline of red-and-white tile-roofed buildings is clearly visible from the sea.
Tips: Visiting Athos
If you visit Mount Athos, you will walk almost everywhere, and stay and eat at the monasteries you have come to visit, which certainly simplifies things. "Simple" is a key word here-both your accommodations and food (Athos is a vegetarian's paradise) will be very basic. Taste some of the wine made on Athos and sold throughout Greece, the Tsantali white (not all of which is made here, despite its labels) is particularly refreshing, while the Metochi Mylopotamou made at the Great Lavra Monastery is also well regarded. Keep in mind that although most monasteries will not accept direct payment in cash for food and lodgings, you can make a donation in the church. As always, when walking in Greece, keep in mind the danger of fires, and be sure to dispose of any matches or cigarettes with care.