monastic community of Mount Athos

File:Karta Athos.PNG

A territory of Greece, the monastic community enjoys autonomous self-government. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs manages relations between the monastic community and the Government of Greece.

The territory of the monastic community is contiguous with Aristotelis, separated by a fence about {{convert|9|km|mi}} in length. Karyes is the administrative center and the seat of the synod and the Civil Administrator of Mount Athos with his staff of lay people in the service of the monastic community.

The monasteries of the monastic community are stauropegic, i.e. they are exempt from the authority of the local bishop and only report to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

File:Flag of the Greek Orthodox Church.svg used by the monastic community]]

According to the Constitution of Greece, the territory of the monastic community which is "the Athos peninsula extending beyond Megali Vigla and constituting the region of Agio Oros" is, "following ancient privilege", "a self-governed part of the Greek State, whose sovereignty thereon shall remain intact". The constitution also states that "all persons leading a monastic life thereon acquire Greek citizenship without further formalities, upon admission as novices or monks". The constitution further states that "heterodox or schismatic persons" are forbidden to stay on the territory. The community consists of 20 main monasteries which constitute the Holy Community.[http://www.hri.org/MFA/syntagma/artcl120.html#A105 Article 105 of the Constitution of Greece] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311164221/http://www.hri.org/MFA/syntagma/artcl120.html#A105|date=11 March 2007}} – The regime of Mount Athos. Karyes is home to a civil administrator as the representative of the Greek state. The governor is an executive appointee.

File:Diamonitirion 1978.jpg}} ('access permit') from 1978]]

The monastic community is under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew.

Civil authorities are represented by the civil administrator, appointed by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He supervises the function of the institutions and the public order.

Each of the 20 monasteries is administered by an archimandrite elected by the monks for life. The Convention of the Brotherhood ({{lang|el|Γεροντία}}, {{transliteration|el|Gerontía}}) is the legislative body. Each of the other establishments (sketes, cells, huts, retreats, and hermitages) is a dependency of one of the 20 monasteries and is assigned to the monks by a document called {{transliteration|el|omologon}} ({{lang|el|ομόλογον}}).

All persons leading a monastic life in the monastic community receive Greek citizenship upon admission as novices or monks. Laymen can visit the monastic community, but they need a special permit known as a {{transliteration|el|diamonitirion}} ({{lang|el|διαμονητήριον}}).

In 17 of the monasteries, the monks are predominantly ethnic Greek. The Helandariou Monastery is Serbian and Montenegrin, the Zografou Monastery is Bulgarian, and the Agiou Panteleimonos monastery is Russian.

Most of the sketes are also predominantly ethnic Greek; however, two sketes are Romanian. They are the coenobitic "Skētē Timiou Prodromou" (under Megistis Lavras Monastery) and the idiorrhythmic "Skētē Agiou Dēmētriou tou Lakkou", also called "Lakkoskētē" (under to the Agiou Pavlou monastery). A third skete is Bulgarian, the coenobitic "Skētē Bogoroditsa"{{cite web |url=https://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Athos/Skete/Bogoroditsa.html |work=Mount Athos |title=The Skete of Bogoroditsa |publisher=Macedonian Heritage: An on-line review of Macedonia related affairs |access-date=2025-03-10 }} (under the Agiou Panteleimonos monastery).

The Greek language is commonly used in all the Greek monasteries, but in some monasteries there are other languages in use: in Agiou Panteleimonos, Russian (67 monks in 2011); in Hilandar Monastery, Serbian (58); in Zographou Monastery and Skiti Bogoroditsa, Bulgarian (32); and in Timiou Prodromou and Lakkoskiti, Romanian (64).{{cite web |url=https://athosfriends.org/pilgrims-guide/ |work=Pilgrims Guide |title=Languages |publisher=Friends of Mount Athos (FoMA) |accessdate=2021-05-08}}{{dl|date=December 2023}} Today, many of the Greek monks also speak foreign languages. Since there are monks from many nations in Athos, they naturally also speak their own native languages.

{{for|pre-Byzantine history|Mount Athos#History}}

File:Athos2.jpg]]

The chroniclers Theophanes the Confessor (end of 8th century) and Georgios Kedrenos (11th century) wrote that the 726 eruption of the Thera volcano was visible from Mount Athos, indicating that it was inhabited at the time. The historian Genesios recorded that monks from Athos participated in the seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea of 787. Following the Battle of Thasos in 829, Athos was deserted for some time due to the destructive raids of the Cretan Saracens. Around 860, the monk Euthymios the Younger came to Athos from Bithynia.{{cite journal

| editor-last = Kazhdan

| editor-first = Alexander P.

| editor-link = Alexander Kazhdan

| year = 2005

| title = Euthymios the Younger

| url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-1828

| journal = The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium

| isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6

| access-date = 15 March 2017

| quote = also called Euthymios of Thessalonike, saint; baptismal name Niketas; born village of Opso, Galatia 823/4

| doi = 10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001

| url-access= subscription

}}

File:Nikiphoros Phokas.jpg]]

File:Athanasios.jpg]]

File:Mucha, Alfons - Der Heilige Berg Athos - 1926.jpg, The Slav Epic]]

In 958, the monk Athanasios the Athonite ({{Lang|el|Άγιος Αθανάσιος ο Αθωνίτης}}) arrived on Mount Athos. In 962, he built the large central church of the Protaton in Karyes. In the next year, with the support of his friend Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, the monastery of Great Lavra was founded, still the largest and most prominent of the twenty monasteries existing today. During the following centuries, it enjoyed the protection of the Byzantine emperors, and its wealth and possessions grew considerably.{{Cite book

| title = The Late Medieval Balkans

| last = Fine

| first = John

| publisher = University of Michigan Press

| year = 1987

| isbn = 978-0-472-10079-8

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/latemedievalbalk00fine/page/381 381]

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/latemedievalbalk00fine/page/381

}} Alexios I Komnenos, emperor from 1081 to 1118, gave Mount Athos complete autonomy from the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Bishop of Ierissos, and also exempted the monasteries from taxation. Furthermore, until 1312, the Protos of Karyes was directly appointed by the Byzantine Emperor.

The first charter of Mount Athos, signed in 972 by Emperor John Tzimiskes, Athanasius the Athonite, and 46 {{transliteration|grc|hegumenoi}}, is currently kept at the Protaton in Karyes. It is also known as the {{transliteration|el|Tragos}} ('goat'), since it was written on goatskin parchment.{{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}} The second charter or {{transliteration|grc|typikon}} of Mount Athos was written in September 1045 and signed by 180 {{transliteration|grc|hegumenoi}}. Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos ratified the typikon with an imperial chrysobull in June 1046. This charter was also the first official document that referred to Mount Athos as the "Holy Mountain".{{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|pages=60–62}}

From 985 to 1287,{{cite journal |last1=Shoemaker |first1=Stephen J. |title=Mary at the Cross, East and West: Maternal Compassion and Affective Piety in the Earliest "Life of the Virgin" and the High Middle Ages |journal=The Journal of Theological Studies |date=2011 |volume=62 |issue=2 |page=596 |doi=10.1093/jts/flr135 |jstor=24638059 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24638059|url-access=subscription }} there was a Benedictine monastery on Mount Athos (between Magisti Lavra and Philotheou Karakallou){{Cite web|url=https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/07/amalfion-benedictine-monastery-on-mount.html|title = Amalfion Benedictine Monastery on Mount Athos}} known as {{transliteration|grc|Amalphion}} after the people of Amalfi who founded it.{{Cite web|url=http://allmercifulsavior.com/Liturgy/Amalfion%20Oct%202002.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112043133/http://allmercifulsavior.com/Liturgy/Amalfion%20Oct%202002.pdf|archive-date=12 January 2012|title=Drogeria internetowa sklep z kosmetykami online}} The monastery was founded with the support of John the Iberian, a Georgian and the founder of the Iviron Monastery, and is thought to have influenced Latin Christian monasticism and piety.

The Fourth Crusade in the 13th century brought new Roman Catholic overlords, which forced the monks to complain and ask for the intervention of Pope Innocent III until the restoration of the Byzantine Empire. The peninsula was raided by Catalan mercenaries in the 14th century in the so-called Catalan vengeance, due to which the entry of people of Catalan origin was prohibited until 2005. The 14th century also saw the theological conflict over the hesychasm practised on Mount Athos and defended by Gregory Palamas ({{lang|grc|Άγιος Γρηγόριος ο Παλαμάς}}). In late 1371 or early 1372, the Byzantines defeated an Ottoman attack on Athos.

Serbian lords of the Nemanjić dynasty offered financial support to the monasteries of Mount Athos, while some of them also made pilgrimages and became monks there. Stefan Nemanja helped build the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos together with his son Archbishop Saint Sava in 1198.{{cite book

| title = 100 najznamenitijih Srba

| publisher = Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

| year = 1993

| isbn = 978-86-82273-08-0

}}; 1st place{{sfn|Mileusnić|2000|p=38}}

From 1342 until 1372, Mount Athos was under Serbian administration. Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan helped Mount Athos with many large donations to all monasteries. In the charter of emperor Stefan Dušan to the Monastery of Hilandar{{cite book

| url = https://www.academia.edu/12794128

| title = I. Komatina, Povelja cara Stefana Dušana manastiru Hilandaru (The charter of emperor Stefan Dušan to the Monastery Hilandar), SSA 13 (2014)

| first = Ivana

| last = Komatina

}} the Emperor gave to the monastery Hilandar direct rule over many villages and churches, including the church of Svetog Nikole u Dobrušti in Prizren, the church of Svetih Arhanđela in Štip, the Church of Svetog Nikole in Vranje and surrounding lands and possessions. He also gave large possessions and donations to the Karyes Hermitage of St. Sabas and the Holy Archangels in Jerusalem.{{cite web

| url = http://www.atlantaserbs.com/learnmore/history/serbian-church.htm#serbian_patriarchate

| title = Serbian Church in History

| website = atlantaserbs.com

}} Empress Helena, wife of the Emperor Stefan Dušan, was among the very few women allowed to visit and stay in Mount Athos, to protect her from the plague.{{cite journal

| url = http://www.srpsko-nasledje.rs/sr-l/1998/06/article-19.html

| journal = Srpsko Nasleđe

| title = Četiri kraljevske masline

| first = Životije | last = Đorđević

}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2022}}

She avoided breaking the ban against a woman setting foot on the mountain by not touching the ground for her entire visit, being constantly carried in a litter.{{cite web|url=http://www.vagabond-bg.com/?page=live&sub=21&open_news=842|title=VAGABOND – the first and only monthly magazine in English|author=C 2006, ABC Design & Communication|date=12 November 1935|publisher=Vagabond-bg.com|access-date=5 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109161329/http://www.vagabond-bg.com/?page=live&sub=21&open_news=842|archive-date=9 January 2009|url-status=dead}}

Thanks to the donations by Dušan, the Serbian monastery of Hilandar was enlarged to more than 10,000 hectares, thus having the largest possessions on Mount Athos among other monasteries, and occupying 1/3 of the area. Serbian nobleman Antonije Bagaš, together with Nikola Radonja, bought and restored the ruined Agiou Pavlou monastery between 1355 and 1365, becoming its abbot.{{cite book

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vBy7CTYVBeMC&pg=PA160

| title = The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 5, Eastern Christianity

| first = Michael

| last = Angold

| date = 17 August 2006

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| via = Google Books

| isbn = 9780521811132

}}

The time of the Serbian Empire was a prosperous period for Hilandar and other monasteries in Mount Athos, and many of them were restored, rebuilt, and significantly enlarged.{{full citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Serbian princess Mara Branković was the second Serbian woman that was granted permission to visit the area. At the end of the 15th century, five monasteries on Mount Athos had Serbian monks and were under the Serbian Prior: Docheiariou, Grigoriou, Ayiou Pavlou, Ayiou Dionysiou and Hilandar{{cite web

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=V5z_cQAACAAJ

| title = History of Macedonia, 1354–1833. [By] A.E. Vacalopoulos

| first = A. E.

| last = Bakalopulos

| date = 11 April 1973

| via = Google Books

}}

The Byzantine Empire ceased to exist in the 15th century, and the Ottoman Empire took its place.{{cite book

| author = John Anthony McGuckin

| title = The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JmFetR5Wqd8C&pg=PT182

| date = 15 December 2010

| publisher = John Wiley & Sons

| isbn = 978-1-4443-9254-8

| page = 182

| quote = After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Byzantine political influence was effectively ended, but the prerogatives of the Greek Church remained and were amalgamated by the Sultans.

}}

From the account of the Russian pilgrim Isaiah, by the end of the 15th century, monasteries in Mount Athos represented monastic communities from large and diverse parts of the Balkans. Other monasteries listed by him bear no such designations; in particular, Docheiariou, Grigoriou, Ayiou Pavlou, Ayiou Dionysiou, and Chilandariou were Serbian; Karakalou and Philotheou were Albanian; Panteleïmon was Russian; Simonopetra was Bulgarian; Great Lavra, Vatopedi, Pantokratoros and Stavronikita were Greek; and Zographou, Kastamonitou, Xeropotamou, Koutloumousiou, Xenophontos, Iviron and Protaton did not bear any designation.{{cite book

| title = History of Macedonia, 1354–1833.

| first = A.E.

| last = Vacalopoulos

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=V5z_cQAACAAJ

| year = 1973

| pages = 166–167

| quote = At the end of the 15th century, the Russian pilgrim Isaiah relates that the monks support themselves with various kinds of work including the cultivation of their vineyards....He also tells us that nearly half the monasteries are Slav or Albanian. As Serbian he instances Docheiariou, Grigoriou, Ayiou Pavlou, a monastery near Ayiou Pavlou and dedicated to St. John the Theologian (he no doubt means the monastery of Ayiou Dionysiou), and Chilandariou. Panteleïmon is Russian, Simonopetra is Bulgarian, and Karakallou and Philotheou are Albanian. Zographou, Kastamonitou (see fig. 58), Xeropotamou, Koutloumousiou, Xenophontos, Iveron and Protaton he mentions without any designation; while Lavra, Vatopedi (see fig. 59), Pantokratoros, and Stavronikita (which had been recently founded by the patriarch Jeremiah I) he names specifically as being Greek (see map 6).

}}

File:Vatopedi 2.jpg]]

Sultan Selim I was a substantial benefactor of the Xeropotamou monastery. In 1517, he issued a fatwa and a Hatt-i Sharif ("noble edict") that "the place, where the Holy Gospel is preached, whenever it is burned or even damaged, shall be erected again". He also endowed privileges to the Abbey and financed the construction of the dining area and the underground of the Abbey, as well as the renovation of the wall paintings in the central church that were completed between the years 1533 and 1541.[http://www.ierissos.gr/en/agiooros_abbey06.htm Municipality of Stagira, Acanthos] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041227053212/http://www.ierissos.gr/en/agiooros_abbey06.htm |date=27 December 2004 }}

This new way of monastic organization was an emergency measure taken by the monastic communities to counter their harsh economic environment. Contrary to the cenobitic system, monks in idiorrhythmic communities have private property and work for themselves, bearing sole responsibility for acquiring food and other necessities; they dine separately in their cells, only meeting with other monks at church. At the same time, the monasteries' abbots were replaced by committees, and at Karyes the Protos was replaced by a four-member committee.{{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

| pages = 14–16

}}

In 1749, with the establishment of the Athonite Academy near Vatopedi monastery, the local monastic community took a leading role in the modern Greek Enlightenment movement of the 18th century.{{cite book

| first1 = Dana

| last1 = Facaros

| first2 = Linda

| last2 = Theodorou

| title = Greece

| year = 2003

| page = 578

| isbn = 978-1-86011-898-2

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UlBjpoeo9-gC&q=%22Athonite+Academy%22%2Benlightenment&pg=PA578

| publisher = New Holland Publishers

}} This institution offered high level education, especially under Eugenios Voulgaris, where ancient philosophy and modern physical science were taught.{{cite book

| first1 = Lorenzo

| last1 = Scupoli

| last2 = Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

| title = Unseen warfare: the Spiritual combat and Path to paradise of Lorenzo Scupoli

| year = 1978

| page = 41

| isbn = 978-0-913836-52-1

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7ed4DF8tmS8C&q=%22athonite+academy%22&pg=PA43

| publisher = St Vladimir's Seminary Press

}}

In modern times after the end of Ottoman rule new Serbian kings from the Obrenović dynasty and Karađorđević dynasty and the new bourgeois class resumed their support of Mount Athos.{{cite web

| url = http://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/378441/Blagoslov-Hilandara-za-kraljeve-i-predsednike

| title = Blagoslov Hilandara za kraljeve i predsednike

| first = Milenko

| last = Pešić

}}

In November 1912, during the First Balkan War, the Ottomans were forced out by the Greek Navy.{{cite news

| title = The Famous Abode of Monks in Greek Hands

| newspaper = London Standard

| location = London

| date = 16 November 1912

| page = 9

| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/uk/middlesex/london/london-standard/1912/11-16/page-9

}} {{open access}}

In June 1913, a small Russian fleet, consisting of the gunboat Donets and the transport ships Tsar and Kherson, delivered the archbishop of Vologda, and a number of troops to Mount Athos to intervene in the theological controversy over imiaslavie (a Russian Orthodox movement).

Maryse Choisy entered the monastic community in the 1920s disguised as a sailor. She later wrote about her escapade in {{lang|fr|Un mois chez les hommes}} (A Month with Men).{{cite book|title=Report from Practically Nowhere|title-link=Report from Practically Nowhere|author=Sack, John|publisher=Curtis Publishing Company|year=1959|location=New York|pages=148–149|author-link=John Sack}} In the 1930s, Aliki Diplarakou dressed as a man and snuck into the monastic community. Her stunt was discussed in a 13 July 1953 Time magazine article entitled "The Climax of Sin".[http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,806694,00.html The Climax of Sin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614145555/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,806694,00.html|date=14 June 2006}}, Time Magazine, 1953

A monk named Mihailo Tolotos is claimed to have lived in the monastic community from {{circa|1855–1856}} to 1938. On October 29, 1938, the American community newspaper Edinburg Daily Courier of Edinburg, Indiana reported that Tolotos had died at the age of 82. Reportedly, Tolotos had never seen a woman in his life, his mother having died in childbirth and he was brought up in the monastery by the monks.{{Cite news |title=Monk Dies in Greece Without Seeing Woman |newspaper=The Edinburg Daily Courier |location=Edinburg, Indiana |date=October 29, 1938 |page=3 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/125112324/ |access-date=2022-12-31 |via=Newspapers.com |language=en}} His 1938 death was again mentioned in January 7, 1949, edition of Raleigh Register in an Nixon Furniture Company advertisement, saying he lived a secluded life in the monastery, suggesting he may have never left the monastery.{{Cite web |title=Only man never to have seen a woman |url=http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/only_man_never_to_have_seen_a_woman |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=Weird Universe |language=en}}

Following the outbreak of World War II, Time magazine described during the German invasion of Greece in 1941 a bombing attack near the monastic community, "The Stukas swooped across the Aegean skies like dark, dreadful birds, but they dropped no bombs on the monks of Mount Athos".{{cite magazine|date=28 April 1941|title=MOUNT ATHOS: Failing Light|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,765498-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128065508/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,765498-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 28, 2012|magazine=Time|access-date=15 September 2011}} During the German occupation of Greece, the Epistassia formally asked Adolf Hitler to place the monastic community under his personal protection. Hitler agreed and received the title "High Protector of the Holy Mountain" ({{langx|de|Hoher Protektor des heiligen Berges}}) from the monks. The monastic community was able to avoid significant damage during the war.{{cite web|url=http://open.salon.com/blog/lost_in_berlin/2010/10/27/the_hitler_icon_how_mount_athos_honored_the_fhrer|title=The Hitler icon: How Mount Athos honored the Führer – Alan Nothnagle|date=27 October 2010|publisher=Open Salon|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202055537/http://open.salon.com/blog/lost_in_berlin/2010/10/27/the_hitler_icon_how_mount_athos_honored_the_fhrer|archive-date=2 February 2013|access-date=15 September 2011}}{{Better source needed|date=October 2019}}

After the war, a Special Double Assembly passed the constitutional charter of the monastic community, which was then ratified by the Greek Parliament.

In 1953, Cora Miller, an American Fulbright Program teacher, landed briefly along with two other women, stirring up a controversy among the local monks.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/04/26/archives/women-invade-athos-despite-1o00year-ban.html|title=Women Invade Athos Despite 1,000-Year Ban|date=26 April 1953|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=15 July 2011}}

The monasteries of Mount Athos have a history of opposing ecumenism, or movements towards reconciliation between the Orthodox Church of Constantinople and the Catholic Church. The Esphigmenou monastery is particularly outspoken in this respect, having raised black flags to protest against the meeting of Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople and Pope Paul VI in 1972. Esphigmenou was subsequently expelled from the representative bodies of the Athonite Community. The conflict escalated in 2002 with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople declaring the monks of Esphigmenou an illegal brotherhood and ordering their eviction; the monks refused to be evicted, and the Patriarch ordered a new brotherhood to replace them.{{Source needed|date=July 2024}}

The monasteries also have opposed ecumenism between the Orthodox Church of Constantinople and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Following the FirstJoint Commission Of The Theological Dialogue Between The Orthodox Church And The Oriental Orthodox Churches. (1989). First Agreed Statement. Wadi-El-Natroun, Egypt: Anba Bishoy Monastery. and SecondJoint Commission Of The Theological Dialogue Between The Orthodox Church And The Oriental Orthodox Churches. (1990). Second Agreed Statement. Chambesy, Geneva, Switzerland:Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Agreed Statements published by the Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches in 1989 and 1990 respectively, and the subsequent Proposals for Lifting AnathemasJoint Commission Of The Theological Dialogue Between The Orthodox Church And The Oriental Orthodox Churches. (1993). Second Agreed Statement. Chambesy Geneva, Switzerland: Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. in 1993, a committee formed by the monasteries published a responding memorandum expressing their condemnation of what they perceived to be an imminent false union with "the Non-Chalcedonians".Committee from the Sacred Community of the Holy Mountain Athos. (1994). Concerning the Dialogue of the Orthodox with the Non-Chalcedonians. Mount Athos, Greece: The Sacred Community of Mount Athos.

After the dissolution of the Yugoslav Communist regime and Socialist Yugoslavia many presidents and prime ministers of Serbia visited Mount Athos.{{cite web

| url = http://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/378441/Blagoslov-Hilandara-za-kraljeve-i-predsednike

| title = Blagoslov Hilandara za kraljeve i predsednike

| first = Milenko

| last = Pešić

}}

A 2003 resolution of the European Parliament requested the lifting of the ban on women and girls for violating "the universally recognised principle of gender equality".{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P5-TA-2003-0012+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN|title=European Parliament resolution on the situation concerning basic rights in the European Union|date=15 January 2003|publisher=European Parliament|pages=Equality between men and women § 98|access-date=6 September 2008}}

On 26 May 2008, five Moldovans illegally entered Greece by way of Turkey, ending up in the monastic community. Four of these migrants were women. The monks forgave them for trespassing and informed them that the area was forbidden to females.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7421157.stm|title=Women breach all-male Greek site|date=27 May 2008|publisher=BBC}}

In 2008 a group of Greek women contravened the 1,000-year ban on females on the mount during a protest after five monasteries laid claim to {{convert|20000|acre|ha|order=flip}} of land on the nearby Chalkidiki peninsula. About ten women jumped over the border fence and spent about 20 minutes on the monastery territory, being joined by Greek MP Litsa Ammanatidou-Paschalidou.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-women-athos-idUSL0945881020080109|title=Greek women enter male-only Mount Athos community|newspaper=Reuters|date=9 January 2008|last1=Grohmann|first1=Karolos}}

{{wide image|Dafni-Athos-Halkidiki.jpg|650px|align-cap=center|View of Dafni}}

In 2018, the monastic community became an issue in Greece-Russia relations when the Greek government denied entry to Russian clerics headed for the monastic community. The media reported allegations that the Russian Federation was using the monastic community as a base for intelligence operations in Greece.{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Helena|date=11 August 2018|title=Greece accuses Russia of bribery and meddling in its affairs|language=en|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/11/greece-accuses-russia-bribery-meddling-macedonia-deal|access-date=11 August 2018}} In October 2018, the Moscow Patriarchate broke communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and banned its adherents from visiting sites controlled by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, including the monastic community, in retaliation for his decision to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.{{Cite web|date=2018-10-16|title=Russian Orthodox Church breaks "Eucharistic communion" with Patriarcate of Constantinople - Vatican News|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2018-10/russian-orthodox-break-communion-with-ecumenical-patriarch.html|access-date=2020-11-16|website=www.vaticannews.va|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=MacFarquhar|first=Neil|date=2018-10-15|title=Russia Takes Further Step Toward Major Schism in Orthodox Church (Published 2018)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/world/europe/russia-orthodox-church.html|access-date=2020-11-16|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news|last1=MacFarquhar|first1=Neil|date=20 October 2018|title=Mount Athos, a Male-Only Holy Retreat, Is Ruffled by Tourists and Russia|language=en|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/20/world/europe/mount-athos-greece-russia-eastern-orthodox-church.html?rref=collection%2Fspotlightcollection%2Fdispatches-international|access-date=26 October 2018}}

In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions, in 2022 the money-laundering authority of Greece launched an investigation into the suspicious transfer of large funds from Russia to Russia-friendly monasteries and monks at Mount Athos. Several senior Russian officials had visited Mount Athos in the preceding months.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/oct/06/russia-ukraine-war-ukraine-retakes-more-settlements-in-kherson-zelenskiy-says-un-nuclear-chief-heads-to-kyiv-live|title=Russia-Ukraine war: Putin must lose or he will invade other European countries, Zelenskiy says – as it happened

|newspaper=The Guardian|date=6 October 2022|last1=Smith|first1=Helena}}

After reaching a low point of just 1,145 mainly elderly monks in 1971, the monasteries have been undergoing a steady and sustained renewal. By the year 2000, the monastic population had reached 1,610, with all 20 monasteries and their associated sketes receiving an infusion of mainly young, well-educated monks. In 2009, the population stood at nearly 2,000.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 Many younger monks possess university education and advanced skills that allow them to work on the cataloging and restoration of the Mountain's vast repository of manuscripts, vestments, icons, liturgical objects and other works of art, most of which remain unknown to the public because of their sheer volume. Projected to take several decades to complete, this restorative and archival work is funded by UNESCO and the EU, and aided by many academic institutions.

A pilgrim/visitor to a monastery who is accommodated in the {{ill|archontariki|ru|Архондарик}} (αρχονταρίκι) or guesthouse can follow its daily schedule: praying (services in church or in private), common dining, working (according to the duties of each monk) and rest. During religious celebrations, long vigils are typically held and the daily program is dramatically altered. The gate of the monastery closes by sunset and opens again by sunrise.

Many of the monasteries are dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Vatopedi and Philotheou are dedicated to the Annunciation, Agiou Pavlou to the Purification, Hilandar to the Presentation, and Iviron to the Dormition.{{cite book|author=Graham Speake|author-link=Graham Speake|title=Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise|date=2014|publisher=Denise Harvey|isbn=978-960-7120-34-2}}.{{rp|26-27}}

A cell is a house with a small church where 1–3 monks live under the supervision of a monastery. Usually, each cell possesses a piece of land for agricultural or other use. Each cell has to organize some activities for income.

{{See also|Skete}}

File:Mount Athos- Nea Skiti.jpg]]

Small communities of neighbouring cells have developed since the beginning of monastic life in the monastic community, some of which using the word "skete" (σκήτη) meaning "monastic settlement" or "lavra" (λαύρα) meaning "monastic congregation". The word "skete" is of Coptic origin and in its original form is a placename of a location in the Egyptian desert known today as Scetis.Variant names: Skiathis – Sketis – Skithis – Skitis – Skete – Oros Nitrias (Nitria) – Wadi el-Natrun – sites including Deir el-Surian (Deir el-Syriani), the monastery of Maria Deipara, Kellia, the monastery Deir Abu Maqar, Qaret el-Dahr, Quçur el-Rubaiyat according to the on-line dictionary "Trismegistos"

The sovereign monasteries, in the order of their place in the Athonite hierarchy:

Papazôtos (1988) lists the following former 11th-century monasteries at Mount Athos, most of which are located northwest of Karyes.{{cite book|last=Papazôtos|first=Athanasios|chapter-url=http://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/2055 |chapter=Recherches topographiques au Mont Athos|url=https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/2032 |editor-last=Ahrweiler|editor-first=Hélène|title=Géographie historique du monde méditerranéen|series=Byzantina Sorbonensia |location=Paris|publisher=Éditions de la Sorbonne|date=1988|pages=149–178|isbn=9782859448332 |lang=fr}}

Other former monasteries include Amalfinon Monastery, a Latin monastery, and the Monastery of Zelianos, a Slavic (Bulgarian) monastery located near Xenophontos Monastery and {{ill|Old Rosiko|bg|Стар Русик}}.{{cite book | last1=Speake | first1=Graham | last2=Ware | first2=Kallistos | title=Mount Athos: Microcosm of the Christian East | publisher=Lang, Peter, AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften | publication-place=Oxford | date=2012 | isbn=978-3-0353-0233-2 | oclc=823378976 | pages=48–50}}

A skete is a community of Christian hermits following a monastic rule, allowing them to worship in comparative solitude, while also affording them a level of mutual practical support and security. There are two kinds of sketes in Mount Athos. A coenobitic skete follows the style of monasteries. An idiorrhythmic skete follows the style of a small village: it has a common area of worship (a church), with individual hermitages or small houses around it, each one for a small number of occupants. The twelve main official sketes on Mount Athos are:

Other settlements and hermitages at Mount Athos that are sometimes referred to as "sketes" include {{ill|Nea Tivaida|ru|Новая Фиваида}} (Νέα Θηβαΐδα; a Russian skete), Little St. Anne's Skete, and the Skete of St. Basil (Άγιος Βασίλειος; a Greek-speaking skete). However, none of them are officially considered to sketes by the administration of Mount Athos. Former sketes include {{ill|Rosiko|bg|Стар Русик}} (Ρωσικό) and {{ill|Chourmitsa|bg|Крумица}} (Μετόχι Χουρμίτσας) (both Russian sketes).

The main settlements are:

• Karyes (main administrative center)
• Dafni (main port)

Other smaller settlements are:

• Vigla
• Agios Nilos
• Kerasia
• Karoulia
• Katounakia
• Kafsokalyvia
• Vouleftiria
• Provata
• Morfonou
• Kapsala

Daily visitors to Mount Athos are restricted to 100 lay Eastern Orthodox Christians and 10 non-Eastern Orthodox male pilgrims, and all are required to obtain a special entrance permit from the Mount Athos Pilgrims' Bureau called the {{lang|el-Latn|diamonitirion}} ({{lang|el|διαμονητήριον}}). Pilgrims pick up the permit from the Pilgrims' Bureau office in Thessaloniki and then present it at Ouranopoli or Ierissos before boarding the ferry to Mount Athos. This permit is valid for three days unless a monastery requests permission to extend it, or if an extension application is submitted at Karyes. Eastern Orthodox clergy are required to obtain a special entrance permit from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Only men are permitted to visit the territory, which is called the "Garden of Virgin Mary" ({{langx|el|Περιβόλι της Παναγιάς|translit=Perivoli tis Panagias}}) by the monks.Athonite monasticism at the dawn of the third millennium, Pravmir Portal, September 2007. Residents on the peninsula must be men aged 18 and over who are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and also either monks or workers.{{Cite web|title=How to Visit Mount Athos |website=Sithonia Greece|url=https://sithoniagreece.com/how-to-visit-mount-athos/|access-date=2021-12-23|language=en-US}} Until the year 2000, the monks of Mount Athos prohibited entry to any Catalan citizens{{clarify|reason=There was legally no such thing as a "Catalan citizen" for several centuries before 2000. Did this apply to Spanish citizens with residence in Catalonia, to French citizens resident in historic Catalonia?|date=March 2025}} due to the events sparked by the Catalan Company, a mercenary army, in the 14th century.{{Cite book |last=Rubió y Lluch |first=Antonio |title=Diplomatari de l'Orient català: (1301 - 1409); collecció de documents per a la història de l'expedició catalana a Orient i dels ducats d'Atenes i Neopàtria |date=2001 |publisher=Inst. d'Estudis Catalans |isbn=978-84-7283-612-9 |edition=Ed. facs. [der Ausg.] Barcelona 1947; 1. |series=Memòries de la Secció Històrico-Arqueològica |location=Barcelona |pages=50}}

Visitors from holy orders (Orthodox monks and clerics) must also seek written permission ({{lang|el-Latn|evlogia}}{{cite web|title=Visit To Mount Athos|website=Mount Athos Center|url=https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/en/visit-mount-athos|access-date=2022-07-07}}) from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul.{{cite web|title=Pilgrim's Guide |publisher=Friends of Mount Athos|date=2015-12-17|url=https://athosfriends.org/pilgrims-guide/|access-date=2022-07-07}}

There are two types of diamonitirions:

• The {{lang|el-Latn|genikon diamonitirion}} or "general permit" is issued by the Pilgrims' Bureau (officially known as the Holy Executive οf the Holy Mount Athos - Pilgrims' Bureau) in Thessaloniki, located on Egnatia Street near the Arch of Galerius. This permit gives the right to stay in Mount Athos for 3 nights (4 days including the day of departure). It can be extended in Karyes if necessary, generally for an additional two nights. This permit is limited to 100 Orthodox visitors and 10 non-Orthodox visitors per day. Pilgrims can apply up to 6 months in advance.{{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}} High season is typically during July, August, Christmas, Great Lent, and Easter, and slots may fill up a few months in advance.
• The {{lang|el-Latn|idikon diamonitirion}} or "individual permit" ({{langx|el|ειδικον διαμονητήριον}}) is issued by the monastery itself for a period usually from 4 days to 1 year, officially with the right to reside only in the monastery indicated in the invitation (although in practice, a pilgrim with this permission may actually also stay overnight in any other monastery).

As part of measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, visits to Mount Athos were suspended from 19 March 2020James J. Williams. [https://www.bellenews.com/2020/03/20/front-page/coronavirus-mount-athos-closes-for-pilgrims-and-visitors-until-march-30/ "Coronavirus: Mount Athos Closes for Pilgrims and Visitors until March 30"]. Belle News. 20 March 2020. Retrieved on 20 March 2020 until 11 May 2021.{{cite news |title=Greece Holy Mountain of Athos Reopens After Lockdown |author=Bella Kontogianni |url=https://greekreporter.com/2021/05/11/greeces-athos-holy-mountain-reopens-after-lockdown/ |newspaper=Greek Reporter |date=2021-05-11 |accessdate=2021-12-03 }}

File:Athos grenze frangokastro 01.jpg

The monastic community bans women and female animals from entry in what is called an {{lang|el-Latn|avaton}} ({{lang|el|Άβατον}}). This intended to make living in celibacy easier for men who have chosen to do so.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMUDjICyD5U Mount Athos]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428113757/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMUDjICyD5U|date=28 April 2016}}, an IFPA (Independent Film Production Associates Limited) – Cinevideo co-production in association with Channel 4 Television, London. 1985. The main goal is to ensure celibacy, but also because the Virgin Mary alone represents her gender on Mount Athos, which is dedicated to her glory.{{Cite web|date=2021-04-23|title=Mount Athos Ban on Females Steeped in History, Mystery|url=https://greekreporter.com/2021/04/23/mount-athos-ban-on-females-steeped-in-history-mystery/|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Greek Reporter|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36378690|title=Why are women banned from Mount Athos?|work=BBC News|date=26 May 2016}}

The ban was officially proclaimed by several emperors, including Constantine Monomachos, in a chrysobull of 1046.{{cite web|url=http://holy-mount-athos.org/en/speeches/110-human-rights-aspects-of-current-problems-of-mount-athos|title=Human Rights Aspects of Current Problems of Mount Athos|last=Schwimmer|first=Walter|publisher=Report to international conference: 'The Holy Mount Athos – the unique spiritual and cultural heritage of modern world' (Weimar, Germany) 23–26 June 2012|access-date=7 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323042221/http://holy-mount-athos.org/en/speeches/110-human-rights-aspects-of-current-problems-of-mount-athos|archive-date=23 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

Female domestic animals such as cows or sheep are also barred, the only exception being cats due to their mousing abilities.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36378690|title=Why are women banned from Mount Athos?|website=BBC News |date=27 May 2016|publisher=BBC}}

As part of an EU member state, Mount Athos is part of the European Union and, for the most part, subject to EU law. While outside the EU's Value Added Tax area, Mount Athos is within the Schengen Area. A declaration attached to Greece's accession treaty to the Schengen Agreement states that Mount Athos's "special status" should be taken into account in the application of the Schengen rules.Joint Declaration No. 5 attached to the Final Act of the [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:42000A0922(06) accession treaty]. The monks strongly objected to Greece joining the Schengen Area based on fears that the EU would be able to end the centuries-old prohibition on the admittance of women. The prohibition is unchanged and a special permit is required to enter the peninsula. The monks were also concerned that the agreement could affect their traditional right to offer sanctuary to people from Orthodox countries such as Russia.{{cite news|date=16 June 1998|title=Monks see Schengen as Satan's work|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/113765.stm}} Such monks do nowadays need a Greek visa and permission to stay, even if that is given generously by the Greek ministry, based on requests from Athos.[http://cvsrf.ru/vizy/foreign_vizas/id_70_lang_en_print_yes.html Greece] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018155620/http://cvsrf.ru/vizy/foreign_vizas/id_70_lang_en_print_yes.html|date=18 October 2014}} (Center for International Economic Cooperation)

• Meteora
• Okinoshima (Fukuoka)
• Footpaths of Mount Athos
• Antiathonas
• Byzantine Empire
• Eastern Orthodox Church
• Friends of Mount Athos
• Hesychasm
• History of the Byzantine Empire
• List of historic Greek countries and regions
• New Athos
• Postage stamps and postal history of Mount Athos
• Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order

{{reflist}}

• Holy Mountain. Stone Arched Bridges and Aqueducts ({{ISBN|978-618-00-0827-2}}) by Frangiscos Martinos. Edited by Dimitri Michalopoulos (Athens, 2019).
• Mount Athos {{ISBN|960-213-075-X}} by Sotiris Kadas. An illustrated guide to the monasteries and their history (Athens 1998). With many illustrations of the Byzantine art treasures on Mount Athos.
• Athos The Holy Mountain by Sydney Loch. Published 1957 & 1971 (Librairie Molho, Thessaloniki). Loch spent most of his life in the Byzantine tower at Ouranopolis, close to Athos, and describes his numerous visits to the Holy Mountain.
• The Station: Athos: Treasures and Men by Robert Byron. First published 1931, reprinted with an introduction by John Julius Norwich, 1984.
• Dare to be Free {{ISBN|0-330-10629-5}} by Walter Babington Thomas. Offers insights into the lives of the monks of Mt Athos during World War II, from the point of view of an escaped POW who spent a year on the peninsula evading capture.
• Blue Guide: Greece {{ISBN|0-393-30372-1}}, pp. 600–03. Offers history and tourist information.
• Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise {{ISBN|978-0300093537}}, by Graham Speake. Published by Yale University Press in 2002. An extensive book about Athos in the past, the present and the future. Includes valuable tourist information. Features numerous full-colour photographs of the peninsula and daily life in the monasteries. 2nd edition published by Denise Harvey in 2014, which includes revisions, updates, and a new chapter documenting the changes that have occurred in the twelve years since its first publication.
• From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple. {{ISBN|0-8050-6177-0}}. Published 1997.
• Ivanov, Emil: Das Bildprogramm des Narthex im Rila-Kloster in Bulgarien unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Wasserweihezyklen auf dem Athos, Diss., Erlangen, 2002.
• Ivanov, Emil: Apokallypsedarstellungen in der nachbyzantinischen Kunst, in: Das Münster, 3, 2002, 208–217.
• Encounters on the Holy Mountain: Stories from Mount Athos {{ISBN|978-2-503-58911-4}}, P. Howorth, C. Thomas (eds). Published by Brepols in 2020.
• Leigh Fermor, Patrick: The Broken Road. The final volume of his original trilogy, edited by Colin Thubron and Artemis Cooper, has an excellent descriptive tour around each of the main Monasteries, from his visit in January-February 1935.
• {{Cite journal|last=Fotić|first=Aleksandar|title=The Official Explanations for the Confiscation and Sale of Monasteries (Churches) and their Estates at the Time of Selim II|journal=Turcica: Revue d'études turques|year=1994|volume=26|pages=34–54|url=https://www.academia.edu/364920}}
• {{Cite book|last=Fotić|first=Aleksandar|chapter=Athonite Travelling Monks and the Ottoman Authorities (16th - 18th Centuries)|title=Perspectives on Ottoman Studies: Papers from the 18th Symposium of the International Committee of Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Studies (CIEPO)|year=2010|location=Berlin|publisher=LIT Verlag|pages=157–165|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/573920}}
• {{cite magazine

| title = Mount Athos

| magazine = National Geographic

| pages = 738–766

| volume = 164

| issue = 6

| date = December 1983

| issn = 0027-9358

| oclc = 643483454

}}

• {{cite book | last1=Dales | first1=Douglas | last2=Speake | first2=Graham | title=The life of prayer on Mount Athos | publication-place=Oxford | date=2020 | isbn=978-1-78997-521-5 | oclc=1153341087}}
• {{cite book|last=Mileusnić|first=Slobodan|editor=|year=2000|orig-year=1989|title=Sveti Srbi|issue=2|publisher=Prometej|location=Novi Sad|isbn=8676394784|oclc=44601641|language=sr}}
• {{cite book | last=Speake | first=Graham | title=A history of the Athonite Commonwealth : the spiritual and cultural diaspora of Mount Athos | publication-place=New York | date=2018 | isbn=978-1-108-34922-2 | oclc=1041501028}}
• {{cite book | last1=Speake | first1=Graham | last2=Kallistos | first2=Bishop of Diokleia | author-link2=Kallistos (Ware) | title=Spiritual guidance on Mount Athos | publication-place=Oxford | date=2015 | isbn=978-3-0353-0693-4 | oclc=904800265}}
• {{cite book | last1=Speake | first1=Graham | last2=Ware | first2=Kallistos | author-link2=Kallistos (Ware) | title=Mount Athos : Microcosm of the Christian East. | publisher=Lang, Peter, AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften | publication-place=Oxford | date=2012 | isbn=978-3-0353-0233-2 | oclc=823378976}}
• {{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}}
• {{cite book | last1=Gothóni | first1=René | last2=Speake | first2=Graham | title=The monastic magnet : roads to and from Mount Athos | publisher=Peter Lang | publication-place=Bern | date=2008 | isbn=978-3-03911-337-8 | oclc=230209474}}
• {{cite book | last1=Conomos | first1=Dimitri E. | last2=Speake | first2=Graham | title=Mount Athos, the sacred bridge : the spirituality of the Holy Mountain | publisher=Peter Lang | publication-place=Oxford | date=2005 | isbn=3-03910-064-5 | oclc=67924540}}

{{Commons+cat|Άγιο Όρος|Mount Athos}}

{{Wikivoyage|Mount Athos}}

• [https://www.agioritikiestia.gr/ Mount Athos Center]
• [https://mountathosinfos.gr/ Mount Athos information guide]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180806195717/http://inathos.gr/ A website about Athos]
• [http://www.elpenor.org/athos/ Treasures of Mount Athos]
• [http://www.athosfriends.org/ Friends of Mount Athos (FoMA) website]
• [https://www.athosfreunde.de/ Verein: Gemeinschaft der Freunde des Agion Oros Athos e. V. – Informationen über den Heiligen Berg]
• [https://athosfriends.org/visiting/climb-the-holy-mountain/ Climbing the Holy Mountain] (Friends of Mount Athos website)
• [https://www.mountathosfoundation.org/ Mount Athos Foundation of America]
• [http://athos.bg360.net/ 360° virtual panoramas from Athos]
• [http://www.visitmountathos.eu/ Information and services for visitors]
• [http://www.hilandar.info/ Hilandar Monastery] {{in lang|sr}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO-G-NlLJNU Mount Athos, HD video]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071007042534/http://www.mountathos.gr/ Former official website of Mount Athos]
• [https://mountathos.org/en-US/Home-en.aspx Athos Digital Heritage]

{{Mount Athos}}

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