MOUNT ATHOS

Basic Conditions for Admission to Mount Athos In accordance with a "Chryssobul" (edict) issued by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomahos, in 1060 A.D. which still remains valid, conditions for entering the territory of Mt.Athos are as follows:

(a) A permit is required for both individuals and groups. This is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Af- fairs, Directorate of Churches (at No 2, Zalokosta Street, in Athens, tel: 3626.894) or by the Ministry of Northern Greece, Directorate of Civil Affairs at Diiki- tiriou Square in Thessaloniki, tel. 031/270.092.

(b) Women are not admitted into the territory.

(c) Overnight stay is forbidden except for those who have proven religious or scientific interests in the area and are over 18 years old.

The land of Mt. Athos which forms one of the most beautiful parts of Greece, lays before the visitor all the grandeur of Nature. The landscape is varied with small valleys and gorges, well wooded mountains in- tersperced with bare and precipitous rocks and occa- sional views of the coastline. Mountain scenery on one hand and the sea on the other create that essen· tial framework of isolation in a different, strange world chosen by the hermits for their monastic state. It is a community of monks which, for more than 1000 years, has lived the daily life and religious practice of the Byzantines. The oldest monastery on Mt Athos is that of Megisti Lavra which is also the wealthiest in treasures and relics. It was founded in the l0th cen- tury by Ossios Athanassios. However, even prior to that date, monks and hermits had begun to retire to that area. The beneficent acti· vity of Byzantine emperors soon made it possible for the number of monasteries to multiply to 40 and their inmates to 40,000. At the moment, only 20 monaste- ries are functioning and the total number of monks does not exceed 1,700.

Once the entrance permit has been secured, the visi- tor setting out from Ouranoupolis or Tripiti by motor- ship will sail to Dafni and thence overland to Kariés, the capital where the elders used to assemble to de- cide on matters of internal administration. In Kariés stands the church of Protatos, the oldest in the area ( 10th century). It is without doubt an important archi- tectural monument and contains frescoes painted by Emmanuel Panselinos, the last of the great painters of murals of the Macedonian School of Art to which the older of the frescoes in other churches on Mt. Athos also belong. Murals of this school of art as well as murals of the Cretan School of Art, which flourished later, decorate the churches in the monasteries of Agia Lavra, Vatopedi, Iviron, Koutloumousiou, Doheiariou, etc.

As he roams through the various monasteries, the
visitor will feel impressed not only by the frescoes but also by the rich libraries, the mosaïcs, the precious art miniatures, the ecclesiastical utensils and the various relics kept in the treasuries....





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