If You Can't Make The Journey

February 17, 2009 7:00 PM

A photographic pilgrimage via Flickr to the Monasteries of Mount Athos. (previously)
posted by Xurando (8 comments total)

If you want to go, here's how.
posted by Xurando at 7:07 PM on February 17, 2009

I have trouble believing they're still pulling that "no women allowed" thing.
posted by dunkadunc at 7:21 PM on February 17, 2009

Beautiful shots. If you are female, this may be as close as you get - women are not allowed entry. Other than cats and chickens, this apparently goes for domestic animals as well. More.
posted by jquinby at 7:23 PM on February 17, 2009

Mount Athos is one of the few places on earth that still uses the Julian Calendar.

Which makes today's date in Athos Feb 4, I believe, since it's 13 days off.
posted by empath at 8:01 PM on February 17, 2009

I lived in Greece briefly. A woman on the island where i lived ran a little shop. A few months after I met her, I began to find her in her shop in the afternoons weeping to the sound of the vespers on the radio. Every afternoon I would leave class and stop by her place to buy sugared almonds and oranges, and she would tell me about her son, living in the monastery in Mount Athos. She was weeping because it would be four years before she could see him again, due to the fact that women aren't allowed in the monastery (and the...novitiates? monks-in-training? don't get "leave" in that time).

I love these photos, I've never seen so many details about this place.
posted by annathea at 8:14 PM on February 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

The layering of red brick and stone is wonderful. Much inspiration here.
posted by stbalbach at 9:10 PM on February 17, 2009

Thanks for the pictures -- I've always been a bit curious about this place.

I have trouble believing they're still pulling that "no women allowed" thing.

Sarcasm? It's a monastery!
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 9:20 AM on February 18, 2009

You probably allready know this, but it's not that women are not allowed in the monasteries as such, they are not allowed to visit the entire peninsula. Outside Mt. Athos, many Greek monasteries allow (limited) access to visitors of the opposite gender, particularly the ones that are notable in a historical, cultural or religious sense.

If I recall correctly, there was some protest recently against the prohibition of entry to women but I don't expect things to change any time soon. Mt. Athos is essentialy a self-governed sovereign state within Greek territory, with status granted explicitly by the Greek constitution and recognized by the EU. The fact that Orthodox Christian churches of other nationalities are also represented complicates things, hence the possibility of change is even smaller.
posted by ghost of a past number at 10:20 AM on February 18, 2009