Mount
Athos
 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
interspersed with bare and precipitous rocks and occasional views of the
coastline. Mountain scenery on one hand and the sea on the other create
that essential 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 10th century by Ossios Athanassios.
However,
even prior to that date, monks and hermits had begun to retire to that
area. The beneficent activity 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 monasteries are functioning and the total number
of monks does not exceed 1,700.
Holy
Monastery of MEGISTI LAVRA Celebration: July 5th
Holy
Monastery of VATOPEDION Celebration: March 25th
Holy
Monastery of IVIRON Celebration August 15th
Holy
Monastery of HELANDARION Celebration November 21th
Holy
Monastery of DIONYSOS Celebration June 24th
Holy
Monastery of KOUTLOUMOUSION Celebration August 6th
Holy
Monastery of PANTOKRATOR Celebration August 6th
Holy
Monastery of XIROPOTAMOS Celebration March 9th
Holy
Monastery of ZOGRAFOS Celebration April 23rd
Holy
Monastery of DOCHIARIOS Celebration November 8th
Holy
Monastery of KARAKALOS Celebration June 29th
Holy
Monastery of FILOTHEOS Celebration March 25th
Holy
Monastery of SIMON PETRAS Celebration December 25th
Holy
Monastery of SAINT PAVLOS Celebration February 2rd
Holy
Monastery of STAYRONIKITAS Celebration December 6th
Holy
Monastery of XENOPHON Celebration April 23rd
Holy
Monastery of GREGORIOS Celebration December 6th
Holy
Monastery of ESFIGMENOS Celebration 40 days after Easter Holy Monastery
of PANTELEIMON Celebration July 27th
Holy
Monastery of KASTAMONITIS Celebration December 27th
 Once
the entrance permit has been secured, the visitor setting out from Ouranoupolis
or Tripiti by motorship will sail to Dafni and thence overland to Karies,
the capital where the elders used to assemble to decide on matters of internal
administration. In Karies stands the church of Protatos, the oldest in
the area (10th century). It is without doubt an important architectural
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 mosaics, the
precious art miniatures, the ecclesiastical utensils and the various relics
kept in the treasuries.
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