Mount Athos#2008 Mount Athos stamp issue

In the classical era, Mount Athos was called Athos and the peninsula {{Lang|la|Acté|italic=yes}} or {{Lang|grc-Latn|Akté}} ({{Langx|grc-x-koine|Ἀκτή}}). In modern Greek, the mountain is Oros Athos ({{langx|el|Όρος Άθως}}) and the peninsula Hersonisos tou Atho ({{langx|el|Χερσόνησος του Άθω}}), while the designation Agio Oros ({{langx|el|Άγιο Όρος}}) translating to 'Holy Mountain' is used to denote the monastic community.{{cite book |last1=Davie |first1=Grace |last2=Leustean |first2=Lucian N. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe |date=8 December 2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-257106-9 |page=487 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fVQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA487 |language=en |access-date=21 June 2023 |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621093907/https://books.google.com/books?id=7fVQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA487 |url-status=live }}

Some languages of Orthodox tradition use names that translate to 'Holy Mountain', including Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian ({{lang|bg|Света Гора}}, Sveta Gora), and Georgian ({{Lang|ka|მთაწმინდა}}, {{Lang|ka-Latn|mtats’minda}}). However, not all languages spoken in the Eastern Orthodox world use this name: in the East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian) it is simply called {{lang|ru|Афон}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|Afon}}, meaning "Athos"), while in Romanian it is called "Mount Athos" ({{lang|ro|Muntele Athos}} or {{lang|ro|Muntele Atos}}).{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

File:Athos - from NW.jpg

The peninsula, the easternmost "leg" of the larger Chalkidiki peninsula in central Macedonia, protrudes {{cvt|50|km|mi|0}}Robert Draper, [http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/athos/draper-text "Mount Athos"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811023226/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/athos/draper-text |date=11 August 2011 }}, National Geographic magazine, December 2009 into the Aegean Sea at a width of between {{cvt|7|and|12|km|mi}} and covers an area of {{cvt|335.6|km2|sqmi|0}}. The actual Mount Athos has steep, densely forested slopes reaching up to {{cvt|2033|m|ft|0}}. The Athos peninsula, unlike Sithonia and Kassandra, is a geological continuation of the Rhodope Mountains of northern Greece and Bulgaria.{{cite book |last=Speake |first=Graham |title=Mount Athos: renewal in paradise |publication-place=Limni, Evia, Greece |date=2014 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-960-7120-34-2 |oclc=903320491 |page=32}}

The surrounding seas, especially at the end of the peninsula, can be dangerous. In ancient Greek history, two fleet disasters in the area are recorded: Herodotus claimed that in 492 BC, Darius, the king of Persia, lost 300 ships under general Mardonius.Herodotus, Histories, book VI ("Erato"); Aeschylus, The Persians. In 411 BC the Spartans lost a fleet of 50 ships under the admiral Epicleas.Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica XIII 41, 1–3.

Mount Athos has an extensive network of footpaths, many of which date back to the Byzantine period. Many are typically not accessible to motor vehicle traffic.{{cite web |title=Footpaths of the Holy Mountain – FOMA |website=FOMA |date=2019-01-06 |url=https://athosfriends.org/visiting/clear-the-footpaths |access-date=2022-06-16 |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616203905/https://athosfriends.org/visiting/clear-the-footpaths/ |url-status=live }}

Much of Mount Athos is covered with mixed broadleaf deciduous and evergreen forests. Black pine (Pinus nigra) forests are found at higher elevations. Sclerophyllous scrub vegetation is also found throughout Mount Athos. Typical forest trees are sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), holm oak (Quercus ilex), kermes oak (Quercus coccifera), Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto), oriental plane (Platanus orientalis), black pine (Pinus nigra), and cedar (Calocedrus decurrens). Other common plant species include the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo and Arbutus andrachne), cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), laurel (Laurus nobilis), lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus), phillyrea (Phillyrea latifolia), wild olive (Olea europea), and heather (Erica spp.).{{cite web |title=Mount Athos |website=World Heritage Datasheet |author=UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre |date=2017-05-22 |url=http://world-heritage-datasheets.unep-wcmc.org/datasheet/output/site/mount-athos |access-date=2022-06-10 |archive-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807152226/http://world-heritage-datasheets.unep-wcmc.org/datasheet/output/site/mount-athos/ |url-status=live }} Deciduous trees that are primarily found alongside streams include white willow, laurel, Oriental plane, and alder trees.{{cite book |last=Speake |first=Graham |title=Mount Athos: renewal in paradise |publication-place=Limni, Evia, Greece |date=2014 |isbn=978-960-7120-34-2 |oclc=903320491 |page=33 |edition=2nd}}

Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) is more commonly found in the northern part of the peninsula. Broadleaf maquis is found further south. Deciduous broadleaf forest dominated by sweet chestnut lies above the broadleaf maquis zone. There are also mixed forests consisting of deciduous oak trees, as well as limes, aspen, hop hornbeam, and maple. Black pine and stinking juniper can be found at higher elevations. Some herbaceous plants with tubers and bulbs include crocus, anemone, cyclamen, and fritillary species.{{cite book |last=Speake |first=Graham |title=Mount Athos: renewal in paradise |publication-place=Limni, Evia, Greece |date=2014 |isbn=978-960-7120-34-2 |oclc=903320491 |page=34 |edition=2nd}}

At least 35 plant species are endemic to Mount Athos, most of which are found in the area of the main summit in the south.Ganiatsas, K. (2003). I vlastesis kai i chloris tis chersonesou tou Agiou Orous. Isatis tinctoria ssp. athoa, a woad subspecies, and Viola athois are named after Mount Athos.

Mount Athos is also home to 350 species of mushrooms.{{cite book |last1=Cosgrove |first1=Denis E. |last2=Della Dora |first2=Veronica |title=High places: cultural geographies of mountains, ice and science |publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co |publication-place=London |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4416-2965-4 |oclc=503441715}}S. Dafis, ‘Anthrōpines drastēriotētes kai fysiko perivallon’, in S. Dafis et al. (eds.), Fysekai Perivallon sto Agion Oros, Thessalonica, 1998.G. Sideropoulos, Agion Oros: anafores stēn anthropogeōgrafia, Athens, 2000, p. 28.O. Rackham, ‘Our Lady’s Garden: the historical ecology of the Holy Mountain’, Friends of Mount Athos, Annual Report (2000), p. 50.D. Babalonas, ‘Chlōrida kai endemismos tou Agiou Orous’, in M. Parcharidou and M. Fountoulēs (eds.), Agion Oros: fysē, latreia, technē, Vol. I, Thessalonica, 1999, p. 119.

Mammals include the grey wolf (Canis lupus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), jackal (Canis aureus), European badger (Meles meles), beech marten (Martes foina), stoat (Mustela erminea), weasel (Mustela nivalis vulgaris), European hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor), shrews (Crocidura spp.), and Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus). Other mammal species include roe deer, hares, and red squirrels.{{cite book |last=Speake |first=Graham |title=Mount Athos: renewal in paradise |publication-place=Limni, Evia, Greece |date=2014 |isbn=978-960-7120-34-2 |oclc=903320491 |page=37 |edition=2nd}}

Birds include the black stork (Ciconia nigra), short-toed snake-eagle (Circaetus gallicus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), eagle owl (Bubo bubo), yelkouan shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan), and Audouin's gull (Larus audouinii).Grimmett, R. & Jones, T. (eds) (1989). Important Bird Areas in Europe. Technical Publication #9, ICBP, Cambridge, U.K.Heath, M. & Evans, M. (eds) (2000). Important Bird Areas in Europe: Priority Sites for Conservation Vol.2. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K. Other bird species include swifts, swallows, martins, nightingales, and hoopoes.

File:Mont Athos 3D version 1.gif

File:Ste01945.jpg; engraving by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, 1725]]

In Greek mythology, Athos is the name of one of the Gigantes that challenged the Greek gods during the Gigantomachia. Athos threw a massive rock at Poseidon which fell in the Aegean Sea and became Mount Athos.{{Cite web |title=Mythology and History of Chalkidiki (Halkidiki) |url=https://chalkidiki.com/mythology_history.html |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=chalkidiki.com |archive-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108085611/https://chalkidiki.com/mythology_history.html |url-status=live }} According to another version of the story, Poseidon used the mountain to bury the defeated giant.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Homer mentions the mountain Athos in the Iliad.Homer, Iliad 14,229. Herodotus writes that during the Persian invasion of Thrace in 492 BC, the fleet of the Persian commander Mardonius was wrecked with losses of 300 ships and 20,000 men, by a strong North wind while attempting to round the coast near Mount Athos.Herodotus, Histories 6,44. Herodotus also states that Pelasgians from the island of Lemnos populated the peninsula, then called Akte, and names five cities thereon, Sane, Kleonai (Cleonae), Thyssos (Thyssus), Olophyxos (Olophyxus), and Akrothoon (Acrothoum).Herodotus, Histories 7,22. Strabo also mentions the cities of Dion (Dium) and Akrothoon.Strabo, Geography 7,33,1. Eretria also established colonies on Akte. At least one other city was established in the Classical period: Akanthos (Acanthus). Some of these cities minted their own coins.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The peninsula was on the invasion route of Xerxes I, who spent three yearsWarry, J. (1998), Warfare in the Classical World, Salamander Book Ltd., London, p. 35 excavating the Xerxes Canal across the isthmus to allow the passage of his invasion fleet in 483 BC. After the death of Alexander the Great, the architect Dinocrates (Deinokrates) proposed carving the entire mountain into a statue of Alexander.

Pliny the Elder stated in 77 AD that the inhabitants of Mount Athos could "live to their four hundredth year" due to the fact that they eat the skin of vipers.Pliny the Elder. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029223357/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book%3D7:chapter%3D2|date=29 October 2021}}, Retrieved on 30 October 2021.

The lack of historical accounts shrouds the history of the peninsula during the later ages. Archaeologists have not been able to determine the exact location of the cities reported by Strabo. It is believed that they must have been deserted when Athos's new inhabitants, the monks, started arriving sometime before the ninth century AD.{{cite book |last=Kadas |first=Sotiris |title=The Holy Mountain |year=1981 |publisher=Ekdotike Athenon |location=Athens |language=el |isbn=978-960-213-199-2 |page=9}}

File:Athos peninsula.jpg

According to the Athonite tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was sailing accompanied by St John the Evangelist from Joppa to Cyprus to visit Lazarus. When the ship was blown off course to then-pagan Athos, it was forced to anchor near the port of Klement, close to the present monastery of Iviron. The Virgin walked ashore and, overwhelmed by the mountain's wonderful and wild natural beauty, she blessed it and asked her Son for it to be her garden. A voice was heard saying, {{lang|grc|{{"-}}Ἔστω ὁ τόπος οὗτος κλῆρος σὸς καὶ περιβόλαιον σὸν καὶ παράδεισος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ λιμὴν σωτήριος τῶν θελόντων σωθῆναι"}} (Translation: "Let this place be your inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for those seeking to be saved"). From that moment the mountain was consecrated as the garden of the Mother of God and was out of bounds to all other women.St Gregory Palamas included this tradition in his book Life of Petros the Athonite, p. 150, 1005 AD.

Historical documents on ancient Mount Athos history are very few. Monks have certainly been there since the fourth century, and possibly since the third. During Constantine I's reign (324–337) both Christians and followers of traditional Greek religion were living there. During the reign of Julian (361–363), the churches of Mount Athos were destroyed, and Christians hid in the woods and inaccessible places.{{cite book |last=Speake |first=Graham |date=2002 |title=Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise |publisher=Yale University Press |page=27 |isbn=0-300-093535}}

Later, during Theodosius I's reign (379–395), the temples of the traditional Greek religion were destroyed. The lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria states that in the fifth century, there was still a temple and a statue of "Zeus Athonite". After the Islamic conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, many Orthodox monks from the Egyptian desert tried to find another calm place; some of them came to the Athos peninsula. An ancient document states that monks "built huts of wood with roofs of straw ... and by collecting fruit from the wild trees were providing themselves improvised meals."Biography of Saint Athanasius the Athonite

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{{see|Monastic community of Mount Athos#History}}

File:Icon in the Monastery of Great Lavra, Mount Athos, 15th century.png

File:Refectory in a Greek Monastery, Mount Athos, Theodore Jacques Ralli, 1885.jpg

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