The peaks of Mount Athos reach their highest point at 2,033 metres (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen view)
Patrick Comerford
I had planned to be in Greece this week for Easter, which fell last weekend in the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church. But the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has cancelled all my travel plans.
I now even wonder whether I am going to get to Thessaloniki and Halkidiki at the end of August and the beginning of September, or whether I can plan to visit Crete later this year.
Meanwhile, I am offering a series of ‘virtual tours’ of favourite places in Greece. This evening, as Easter Week in Greece is coming to an end, I invite you to join me on a ‘virtual tour’ of a dozen monastic sites on the Holy Mountain of Mount Athos.
This is offered in the spirit of my recent ‘virtual tours’ of a dozen sites in Jewish Thessaloniki, a dozen historical sites in Thessaloniki, a dozen sites in Athens, a dozen churches and chapels in Crete, a dozen churches in Thessaloniki, a dozen monasteries in Crete, a dozen churches in Rethymnon, and a dozen restaurants in Rethymnon.
Religious goods from Mount Athos in a shop in Ouranoupolis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mount Athos is known to Greeks as the Holy Mountain (Aghion Oros) and forms an autonomous Athonite State within the boundaries of Greece. With 20 monasteries and 12 sketes or smaller monastic houses under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Mount Athos has been the spiritual and intellectual centre of Orthodoxy for centuries.
Mount Athos is a Unesco-listed world heritage site. The monasteries and their schools of icon-writing and painting have influenced art and architecture throughout the Orthodox world, from Greece and Cyprus to Romania and Russia. Over 2,000 monks live ascetic lives in the monasteries and sketes, in secluded isolation from the rest of the world.
It was a two-hour, 140 km bus journey from Thessaloniki to Ouranoupolis. From there, boats sail along the west coast of Mount Athos as far as the southern tip, where the peaks of this mysterious and miraculous peninsula reach their highest point at 2,033 metres.
1, Zographou or Saint George the Zograf Monastery
There are 20 monasteries on Mount Athos, known to Greeks as the Holy Mountain (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
A succession of bays and small harbours along the coast lead to monasteries, many of them inland and not within sight. The port of Zographou leads inland to Zographou or Saint George the Zograf Monastery, founded by three Bulgarian monks from Ohrid in the late 9th or early 10th century.
This is still seen as a Bulgarian monastery and today it has about 15 monks. The monastery is named after a 13th or 14th century icon of Saint George, said to have mysteriously painted itself on the prepared board. A sceptical bishop is said to have tried to test the icon by touching it, but part of his finger stuck to the icon and had to be severed.
2, Docheiariou:
Docheiariou has been known as a Serb monastery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Docheiariou, with its tall, 18th century defensive tower, looks like a fortified castle. It was founded in the 10th century and is dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Since the late 15th century, this has been a Serb monastery, and today it is home to about 30 monks.
3, Xenophontos:
Xenophontos frequently suffered from pirate raids (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Xenophontos was founded in the 10th or 11th century by Saint Xenophon. As a monastery on the seashore, Xenophontos frequently suffered from pirate raids.
The monastery fell into financial ruin but was re-established in the 18th century. The bell tower was built in 1864. Today the community has 30 monks.
4, Saint Panteleimon:
The domes of Saint Panteleimon are a reminder of Russian influences (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Saint Panteleimon, also known as the Rousikon or Russian monastery, is mid-way along the west coast. This is the most eye-catching monastery on Mount Athos and the largest of the 20 monasteries. The expansive, grand multi-storey buildings, many of them abandoned, the green copper onion domes and the resounding bells testify to its rich and expansive past.
For centuries, Russian and Greek monks lived together in harmony in Panteleimon. The benefactors included Byzantine emperors, Serbian princes, wealthy Romanians, Greek merchant families in Constantinople and Russian tsars.
After a long absence, Russian monks began returning in the 19th century, and they monks numbered 1,000 in 1895. But in 1913, 800 monks were sent back to Russia, and the Russian Revolution in 1917 brought to an end the flow of Russian monks for most of the 20th century.
Two monks of the monastery – Saint Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938) and Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov (1896-1993) – were influential in introducing the practice of the Jesus Prayer to Western spirituality.
In 2005, President Vladimir Putin became the first Russian leader to visit the monastery. Today, there are about 70 Russian and Ukrainian monks at Saint Panteleimon.
5, Xeropotamou:
Xeropotamou above the port of Daphne(Photograph: Patrick Comerford
Xeropotamou, a classic example of Athonite architecture, stands on a conspicuous site 200 metres above sea level. This is one of the oldest Athonite monasteries, although its early history remains obscure and the exact date of its foundation and the identity of its founder are obscured in tradition and myth. One tradition says it was founded by the Empress Pulcheria in the fifth century.
The monastery flourished until the 13th century, and like the other monasteries it has had its periods of decline, including catastrophic fires and the burden of great debts.
Today, the monastery owns the port of Daphne and its treasures include two pieces of the True Cross. The monastery now has about 25 monks.
Daphne is a small settlement between Xeropotamou and Simonopetra with fewer than 40 residents. It serves as the port and entry point to Mount Athos, with daily ferries to and from Ouranoupolis.
6, Simonopetra:
Simonopetra stands on the edge of a rocky range (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The Monastery of Simonos Petra venerates Saint Mary Magdalene as one of its ‘co-founders,’ despite the prohibition on women visiting the mountain. Known more simply as Simonopetra, this is the most daring construction on Mount Athos, at a height of 330 metres on the end of a rocky mountain range. It was founded around 1257, but was destroyed by fires in 1570, 1622 and again in 1891.
Decades of decline were reversed in 1973, when a new 20-member brotherhood from the Meteora on the Greek mainland moved to the monastery, which now has a community of 50 monks.
7, Gregoriou:
Gregoriou is built on a sea-washed rock with balconies overlooking the gulf below, Patrick Comerford, Mount Athos, 2018 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The Monastery of Gregoriou is built on a sea-washed rock with balconies overlooking the gulf below. It was founded in the 14th century by Gregory, a Syrian monk from Mount Sinai.
The monastery has about 70 monks today.
8, Dionysiou:
Dionysiou has a gilded sanctuary screen and frescoes depicting scenes from the Book of Revelation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Dionysiou or ‘Nea Petra,’ on the south-west tip of Mount Athos, stands on a narrow and steep rocky mass rising to a height of 80 metres above the sea. It is named after the founder, Saint Dionysius from Korysos near Kastoria.
Saint Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople, was a monk of Dionysiou in the 15th century. The monastery’s wall paintings or frescoes, dating from around 1546, are the work of Tzortzis, an influential member of the Cretan School of Iconography. The gilded sanctuary screen and the wall-paintings of the Book of Revelation are the oldest complete portrayal of these scene in the Orthodox world. The treasures and relics include the right hand of Saint John the Baptist. The monastery has a community of around 50.
9, Saint Paul:
Saint Paul was endowed by the Serbian-born wife of the Sultan Murat II, who brought the gifts of the Three Wise Men (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Saint Paul or Aghiou Pavlou was founded by Saint Paul of Xeropotamou, who also founded Xeropotamou. The monastery was deserted in the 14th century, but was restored by Serbian nobles, Byzantine emperors, Danubian princes and Romanian and Greek benefactors. Catastrophes in 20th century included a fire in 1902 and a flood in 1911.
The monastery’s oldest building, the chapel of Saint George, has frescoes painted by members of the Cretan School. The monastery treasures are said to include the gifts of the Three Wise Men, donated by the Serbian-born wife of the Sultan Murat II. She is said to be the only woman to have set foot on the shore at the monastery harbour. Other relics include the foot of Saint Gregory the Theologian, and a piece of the True Cross. The community consists of 30 monks.
10, Vatopedi:
The Monastery of Vatopediou (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
I stayed in Vatopedi during Easter week in 2004. This monastery was built in the late 10th century by three monks, Athanasius, Nicholas and Antonius from Adrianople, who were pupils of Saint Athanasius of Lavra. The most important buildings were built in the Byzantine period and in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the monastery reached its highest peak.
The main church has the only existing mosaics on Mount Athos, while its frescoes, dating from ca 1312, are attributed to Manuel Panselinos from Thessaloniki. About 50 monks live today in the monastery, which is knwn for its learning and scientific research.
11, Esphigmenou:
A sign pointing to Esphigmenou (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Many of the monasteries are known for their opposition to ecumenism, and Esphigmenou, the northern-most monastery, is particularly outspoken. In an escalating conflict, the monks have defied eviction orders by both church and state, and even Orthodox visitors find anything but a warm welcome at Esphigmenou, where monks have draped a banner from the battlements declaring: ‘Orthodoxy or Death.’
12, The Skete of Mount Athos:
Kili Ayiou Modestou (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
During my visits to Mount Athos, I have also seen many of the smaller houses that are dependencies of the larger monasteries, including Kelli Ayiou Modestou, Skiti Monoxilites, and Metochi Chourmitsis, an outlying farm belonging to Panteleimon, where the once abandoned vineyards have been developed in recent years by the Tsantalis label, producing organic wines and spirits.
The offices of Mount Athos on Egnatia Street in Thessaloniki … visitors need a special permit or visa (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Only men may visit Mount Athos, all visitors need a special permit or diamoneterion, priests need a special invitation from the Ecumenical Patriarch, and the Holy Mountain is forbidden to women and children.
The monastic community maintains an office in Egnatia Street in Thessaloniki, where permits or visas are issued. Normally, the Pilgrims’ Bureau issues only 10 permits a day for non-Orthodox visitors and 100 for Greeks and Orthodox visitors. These permits are valid for a four-day visit on specific dates.
This means that for all women and for many men too, the only way to visit Mount Athos is to take one of the many day trips around the coast organised by tour operators based in Ouranoupolis.
In this small harbour, there are many cafés and tavernas, and shops selling souvenirs and icons made by the monks on Mount Athos.
Icons and religious goods made on Mount Athos on sale in Ouranoupolis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
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