Mount Athos

candid Greece tips

 

Why Mount Athos
in Greece is special

Twenty picturesque Eastern Orthodox monasteries are loosely spread out on a forested peninsula in northwest Greece. The most striking is the Simonopetra Monastery (see photo). It sits high on a rock overlooking the sea.

Mount Athos
tips & insights

Getting there

No roads in Greece enter Mount Athos. Boat is the only means of access.

Sexual discrimation

Woman are not allowed to set foot on Mount Athos soil. Even domesticated female animals are excluded. So are children. Unfortunately, it's discriminatory, but it has been that way with the monasteries on Mount Athos for nearly one thousand years.

Permit required

Even if you are a man, it's not easy to obtain the requisite written permit to visit Mount Athos in Greece. Availability is limited. And you generally need to apply months in advance.

Your chances of getting a permit are improved if you are a member of the Eastern Orthodox faith. Only ten permits per day to this wonder of Greece are issued to those not of that faith.

Accommodations

Your lodging and food are free, as is the long-standing tradition at Mount Athos.
Maximum stay is usually 4 days - and you must sleep in a different monastery each night.
Likely, there is neither electricity nor hot bath water. Your room is sparse. Food is plain (but wholesome).
You go to bed early because you are awakened at 3:30 am for early morning prayers. But that's part of the monastic life that visitors come to absorb.

Monks

Most of the thousand-plus Mount Athos monks are friendly and are just as eager to converse with you as you are to them.

Byzantine artworks

Most of the monasteries contain Byzantine style art treasures including precious frescos and solid gold ecclesiastical objects.

Government

Mount Athos is a semi-autonomous region of Greece.

Cannot get a permit?

You can view the monasteries on a day-excursion tour boat that hugs the coastline, one the most scenic in Greece. Women and children are welcome.

  

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