Oblivious to modernity, Eastern Orthodox Christianity’s spiritual home, Mount Athos, lives somewhere in the tenth century. Feminist movements, secular demands and technological developments make occasional dents in the all-male monastic stronghold but major changes are unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future.

Mount Athos is the Vatican of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Proclaimed a Theocratic Republic within Greece in 1926, its territory observes a number of anachronistic and controversial rules that have inflamed at times bitter disputes with both the local and international community.



Located in northern Greece, on the easternmost leg of the Halkidiki peninsula called Agion Oros (‘Holy Mountain’ in Greek), the easiest and most common way of reaching Mount Athos is by boat.

A self-governed monastic community, it is composed of 20 monasteries scattered around a territory of more than 300 square kilometres. Built over a period of roughly 700 years (eight to the fourteenth centuries), nearly half of the monasteries date from the tenth century.

And, in many ways, a trip to Mount Athos takes you back to that period.


Monastery of Dochiarios
Rising from the rocks and forests along the peninsula’s shores, the monasteries were built as fortresses – with massive high walls and small windows. In the past these were meant to defend against attempts to conquer and loot by various enemies over the centuries, like pirates, crusaders and Catalan mercenaries. But nowadays the fences mainly protects the monks from… women.

Women, and even images of women and female animals, have been banned from the community for the past 1,000 years.

Though female tourists and archaeologists have allegedly crossed into the forbidden territory in the past – by disguising themselves as men and most recently, in a blatant protest over land disputes, law-abiding women are limited to taking a virtual tour of the monasteries’ ground or lighting a virtual candle through the click of a mouse. For the time being, the closest non-virtual experience females can have is seeing the monasteries from aboard a boat on the Aegean’s waters, at a distance of several hundred metres.



In a strange way, the exclusion of females is intended to honour a woman. According to legend, the Virgin Mary was travelling to Cyprus when a storm forced her and her companion John the Evangelist to seek refuge in a port, which now houses the Iviron Monastery. The Virgin admired the wild beauty of the place and asked God to give it to her as a present, which he did – to be her “garden and [her] paradise, as well as a salvation, a haven for those who seek salvation.”

In 1060, the Byzantine Orthodox Church legally dedicated the peninsula solely to the Virgin through a decree banning females. Initially, it barred not only women, but also female animals, but in recent years the monks have started to raise hens to produce eggs and cats to keep down the rat population.


The Bulgarian monastery, Zografou
This is why Mount Athos is considered as The Garden of the Virgin Mary and the ban on women is supposed to be a way of honouring her more distinctly. A more practical explanation may be that serious religious contemplation, meditation and practice are best done without distracting presence of the opposite sex – a view apparent in the segregation of men and women into monasteries and nunneries.

Yet, there were exceptions through the centuries. Women and girls came to the peninsula when the monasteries sheltered refugees following the failed Orloy Revolt of 1770 and during the Greek War or Independence in 1821, so in a way it did serve as “a haven for those who seek salvation,” like God supposedly intended.



The access of men, on the other hand, is not dependant on military conflict. Until the 1970s males could visit Athos without restrictions, but as the number of tourists grew, a special visa system was introduced. The Pilgrims’ Office in Thessaloniki issues permits through a relatively complicated process and the dates granted for a visit aren’t always the days requested. There is a quota system which allows around 100 Eastern Orthodox visitors and around 10 visitors with other religious affiliations per day.

Nevertheless, Mount Athos is worth all the effort. Its preserved nature, medieval lifestyle and magical architecture make the place one of the most rewarding destinations in the Balkans. For men, that is.

Though most of the 2,000-odd monks on the territory of the peninsula reside in the monasteries, some live in smaller groups and a few, the most austere hermits, live in isolation. The sketae on the peninsula, which are similar to monasteries, but smaller, number about a dozen.



According to the accounts of male travellers, it is possible to visit all the monasteries in a week. Seventeen of them are Greek, but there is also a Russian, a Bulgarian and a Serbian one. Geographically, but also in their atmosphere, they are divided in two groups: the south-eastern and north-western one. Although all of them have a unique value and hide centuries-old treasures to be explored, there are some that are not to be missed: the large Iviron, Meyistis Lavras, at least one of the “hanging” monasteries, as well as the far northern monasteries of Zografou (Zografski, as called by the Bulgarian monks who inhabit it) and Hilandhariou (which Serb residents call Hilandar).



Each monastery is in fact a compound, containing a number of different buildings concentrated around an internal courtyard, like a church, smaller chapels, the monastic cells, a cooking and dining hall and a library. Visitors are usually shown around, offered coffee, dinner, and free accommodation for the night and breakfast. They also get the chance to speak to the monks and see some of the monastery’s icons and other religious relics.

But in order to enjoy all that, guests have to observe some rather conservative rules.


The Russian monastery of St Panteleimon is said to possess the second biggest bell in the world
At many monasteries, non-Orthodox visitors are expected to eat separately from the monks. Whistling, singing, talking in a loud voice, crossing legs while sitting, or even completely innocent habits like keeping your hands in your pockets or behind your back, are considered an insult here. Of course, showing up anywhere near the monks in anything less than a long-sleeved shirt and long trousers is also seen as an offence.

Although this world seems to be a little user un-friendly, many women would still do anything to overcome Athos’ avaton – the ban over their access in the area.

Their attempts through the years to penetrate the fence have created a long record, and in more recent times their demands reached the European Parliament, which voiced opposition to the ban in 2002 and 2003. The European deputies argued that the avaton violates women’s rights and demanded a lift of the ban. But it was rejected by the Greek government, which represents the otherwise autonomous community in regard to foreign affairs. Its argument was that Mount Athos’s special status was recognised when Greece joined the EU.

Mount Athos seems to have set one foot in modernity and the other in Byzantine times. Though communication and technological development have made life on the peninsula easier, its fundamental principles remain in place and it seems like they will do so in the foreseeable future. So, for the time being, it looks like women will have to settle for lighting a candle with a click of a mouse.

Practicalities

Getting a permit: All visitors to Mount Athos are required to apply for a permit before arrival. This is done through the Pilgrims’ Office in Thessaloniki (Tel. (+30) 2310/833 733), which issues a reservation slip with dates and a permission to stay on Mount Athos for up to four days/three nights. Note that the number of Christian Orthodox visitors is limited to around 100 per day, while there are only around 10 visitors of other religious affiliations allowed.

Getting There: The easiest way to reach Mount Athos is by boat from Ouranoupoli, accessible by a two-hour drive from Thessaloniki. At the Pilgrims’ Office in Ouranoupoli, visitors receive their diamonitirion, or permit, in exchange for the reservation slip. The boat stops at the peninsula’s main port Daphne and all the coastal monasteries on its southwestern side.

Staying there: Most of the monasteries require visitors to call prior to showing up. Their telephone numbers can be found here. The monasteries usually accommodate guests for a period of 24 hours.