Mount Athos
Mount Athos or Mount Athos is the name given to the mountainous area that makes up the easternmost peninsula of the three that extend south from the Chalcidice peninsula, located in Central Macedonia, north of Greece. In Greek it is called Άγιον Όρος (Ágion Óros, "Sacred Mountain"). In classical times, the peninsula was called Ακτή (Actí).
It is the geographical framework of twenty Orthodox monasteries (Greek, Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Bulgarian and Romanian) that make up an autonomous territory under Greek sovereignty. This consideration allows them to be exempt from compliance with certain laws, both in Greece and in the European Union, having the power over the territory, for example, to prohibit the entry of all women. Likewise, there is also no obligation to follow the Schengen Agreement. Only male Orthodox monks can live on Mount Athos and the population (2011) is around 2,416 (2,230 Greeks, monks and lay people, 70 Russians, 45 Serbs, 30 Georgians, 20 Bulgarians and 20 Romanians).
Mount Athos was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988 due to its cultural and natural wealth.
History
Antiquity
In Greek mythology, Athos was the name of one of the giants who defied the Greek gods. Athos threw a huge stone at Poseidon, which fell into the Aegean Sea and became the current peninsula. In other versions, Poseidon used the mountain to bury the defeated giant.
According to Herodotus, the inhabitants of the island of Lemnos inhabited the peninsula, called at that time Acte. The geographer and historian of the first century B.C. C. Strabo points to five cities on the peninsula (although archaeologists have not found their exact location): Dion, Cleonae, Thyssos, Olophyxos and Acrothoï. Two cities were also created in the Classic period: Acanto (now Ierissos or Erisso) and Sane. Some of these cities minted their own currency.
The peninsula was at the pace of the invasion of Xerxes I. Xerxes had a canal built across the isthmus to avoid skirting the cape (his father, Darius I, lost 300 ships and about 20,000 men during the first medical war trying to skirting the same cape). After the death of Alexander the Great, the architect Dinocrates proposed to completely excavate the mountain to turn it into a statue of the Macedonian king.
Byzantine and Ottoman Empires
The monastic community of Mount Athos was founded in the year 963 with the help of Emperor Basil II of Byzantium under the Rule of Saint Basil. The first monastery established was the Great Laura, founded by Saint Athanasius of Athos. This monastery is still today the largest of all those in Greece, and became the largest and most famous of all the monasteries of the Byzantine Empire, being actually a monastic province.
The area enjoyed Byzantine protection for centuries to follow. The Fourth Crusade in the 13th century and the arrival of Catholics in the area forced the monks to ask for the protection of Pope Innocent III until the restoration of the Byzantine Empire. Mount Athos was looted by Catalan mercenaries in the XIV century during the so-called Catalan Revenge. This caused the entry of Catalans to be prohibited until 2005.[citation required]
The Byzantine Empire disappeared in the 15th century and was replaced by the Ottoman Empire, of Islamic faith. High taxes were imposed on the monasteries. The monk population declined in the following centuries and did not begin to recover until the 19th century, with donations and monks coming from other Orthodox territories such as Russia, Bulgaria, Romania or Serbia.
Modernity
In 1912, during the First Balkan War, the Ottomans were expelled from the peninsula, which came under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Greece after the end of the First World War.
Monasteries on Mount Athos have often been affected by fires; in summer the danger comes from those that start in the forests and in winter due to the vulnerability of the buildings in which wood is an important part of their construction, when the flames of the chimneys get out of control. Two of the most devastating at the time recent have been those that occurred in August 1990, which affected a large forest area and in May 2004, which caused serious damage to a large part of the Jilandar monastery.
In June 1913, a small Russian fleet, consisting of the gunboat Donets and the transport ships Tsar and Kherson, brought the Archbishop of Vologda and several troops to Mount Athos to intervene in the theological controversy over the Imiaslavie (a movement Russian Orthodox).
The archbishop held talks with the Imiaslavtsy and tried to get them to change their beliefs voluntarily, but to no avail. On July 31, 1913, the troops stormed the monastery of San Pantaleon. Although the monks were not armed and did not actively resist, the troops displayed heavy-handed tactics. After the assault on the monastery of Saint Panteleimon, the monks of the Skete Andreevsky (Skiti Agiou Andrea) surrendered voluntarily. The Kherson military transport was turned into a prison ship and more than a thousand Imiaslavtsy monks were sent to Odessa, where they were excommunicated and dispersed throughout Russia.
Following a brief diplomatic conflict between Greece and Russia over sovereignty, the peninsula formally came under Greek sovereignty after World War I.
In January 2008, around a dozen Greek women violated the nearly 1,000-year-old entry ban during a protest over disputed land. The protesters, numbering about 1,000, were opposing claims by five monasteries in the community to some 20,000 hectares (8,100 ha) of land on the nearby Chalkidiki peninsula.
Politics
The peninsula is part of Greece. However, it enjoys a self-government whose current status was reached in 1924, with the recognition by the Kingdom of Greece and the rules that govern the community were drawn up: the Fueros de la Montaña Sagrada de Athos. These regulations became law in 1926. It consists of 20 monasteries with a capital and administrative center located in Karyes, where the governor representing the Greek Government is located. In addition to the monasteries, there are twelve small communities of monks, called sketae, as well as various hermitages.
Spiritual jurisdiction rests with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and government, with the Sacred Community (Iera Koinotita). The representative of the Sacred Supervision (Iera Epistasia), a committee of four monks (Epistates) chosen from among the 20 monasteries, following a period of one year, beginning this in June. The leader of the Sacred Supervision is called Protos (in honor of a monk who had this title) (protos in Greek means chief, the first), coming from one of the first five monasteries of the hierarchy that orders the 20 monasteries of Mount Athos.[citation required]
The Greek State is represented by the Governor of the Holy Mountain and falls under the jurisdiction of the Hellenic Foreign Minister. His function is to supervise the operation of the fueros and public services: Police, customs, etc. According to the fueros, Mount Athos is exempt from paying taxes to the Greek state.
120 people are allowed in per day (110 Orthodox and 10 non-Orthodox Christians, all male). Foreigners are initially limited to four visiting days. The only way to enter is by obtaining the diamonitrion (textually: permit), which is processed in Thessaloniki and collected in the Greek towns of Uranopolis or Ierissos (the first for ships bound for the west coast and the second for ships bound for the east, Uranopolis being the busiest), located at both ends of the Xerxes channel. From Ouranoupolis, the ship will take the pilgrim to Daphni, the main port of entry into Mount Athos and the second largest city in the territory. From there he will be able to take other smaller boats to other monasteries, some bus (mainly to go to Karyes) or walk on the many paths. Communication by land with Greece is not allowed. The main border post, next to Ouranópolis, is located in Frangokastro.
Monasteries and sketae
The 20 monasteries of Mount Athos, ordered according to the hierarchy, are the following:
- Monastery of the Great Laura (Mεγíστιαρα /α) Megisti Laura)
- Vatopedi Monastery (Bατoπαiδíoυ / Batopaidiou)
- Monastery of Iviron IvironGeorgian foundation.
- Jilandar Monastery (appendixiλανδαρíou / ChilandariouSerbian foundation.
- Monastery of Dionisio (Δioνυσíoυ / Dionisiou)
- Kutlumusion Monastery (Koυτλoυμoυδíoυ / KoutloumousiouRomanian foundation.
- Pantokrator Monastery (καντokράτoρoς / Pantokrator)
- Xiropotamo Monastery (θρoπoτάμoυ / Xiropotamou)
- Zografou Monastery (Zωγράφoυ / ZografouBulgarian foundation.
- Dochiariou Monastery (Δoχεiαρíou / Docheiariou)
- Karakalos Monastery (Kαραkάλλoυ / Karakallou)
- Filoteo Monastery (Ωοθ Filotheou)
- Monastery of Simonos Petra (εμωνος ・ Simonos Petra)
- St. Paul's Monastery (Yγίου καυ σου / Agio Pavlou)
- Monastery of Stavronikita (σταυρονικυτα / Stavronikita)
- Xenofonte Monastery (️ενοφεντος / Xenophones)
- Monastery of Gregorio (sellingρ γορου/ Gregoriou)
- Monastery Esfigmenu (Εσφιγμ Esfigmenou)
- Monastery of San Pantaleón (Yoγου καντελειμονος / Agio PandeleimonosRussian foundation.
- Monastery Konstamonitu (Κωνσταμονεου / Konstamonitou)
Main Skete:
- Prodromos, Romanian foundation.
- Santa Ana
- Kafsokalyvia
- Sketae of Vatopedi
- Sketae of Iviron
- Sketae of Kutlumusion
- Sketae Pantokrator
- New Sketae
- Lakkoskete,
- Sketae Xenofonte
- San Basilio
- Provata
Built-up areas:
- Karyés (238 hectares), capital of the Monastic Republic.
- Dafni (38 hectares), main port.
Geography
Mount Athos is located in Central Macedonia, being the third subpeninsula of the Chalcidice peninsula. It is 57 km long and between 7 and 10 km wide, giving a total area of about 337 km². It has 112 kilometers of coastline.
The terrain is mainly mountainous, with notable rocky outcrops and steep slopes, and a steep coastline in many stretches. The highest point reaches 2,033 meters from the mountain that, precisely, gives its name to the monastic republic. The peak is known as Mεταμóρφωση Σωτήρoς (Metamórfosi Sotíros), meaning "Transfiguration of the Saviour". The mountains geologically belong to the Rhodope Mountains, composed of ophiolites, granite, and marine sedimentation.
Map of Calcídica.
Aerial view of Mount Athos (NASA).
Climate
The weather on Mount Athos is changeable. Even in summer, it can be affected by a storm or hail that can only last a few minutes. The wind is usually from the northeast.
Up to 450 meters, the climate is hot and dry. As you rise above sea level, the amount of snow and rain increases. Between 1,000 and 2,000 meters of altitude, the climate is typically continental, cold and with heavy snowfall.
Flora and fauna
On the Athos peninsula, forests occupy more than 75% of the territory, and 1,453 plant species have been catalogued. The most predominant trees are chestnuts, beeches, pines and oaks.
Thanks to the isolation that the territory enjoys, rare species can be found in other parts of Greece. There are records of 37 species of mammals and 14 of reptiles.
There is abundant bird life. The most abundant species is the magpie. Protected species include Aquila chrysaetos, Circaetus gallicus and Phalacrocorax aristotelis.
As far as marine animals are concerned, seals (Monachus monachus) and dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have been sighted on occasion.
Culture and customs
To avoid any sexual temptation, women are prohibited from entering the entire territory of Mount Athos. The ban also extends to domestic females, excluding cats. However, during the Greek civil war, the peninsula took in women and girls as refugees.
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