In modern Greek, the community is commonly referred to as Agio Oros (Άγιο Όρος) translating to 'Holy Mountain', while Oros Athos (Greek: Όρος Άθως) is used to denote the physical mountain and Hersonissos tou Atho (Χερσόνησος του Άθω) in respect to the peninsula.
The community includes 20 monasteries and the settlements on which they depend. The monasteries house around 2,000 Eastern Orthodox monks from Greece and many other countries, including Eastern Orthodox countries such as Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Russia, who claim to live an ascetic life at Athos, isolated from the rest of the world. The Athonite monasteries feature a rich collection of well-preserved artifacts, rare books, ancient documents, and artworks of immense historical value, and Mount Athos has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 1988.[6]
Although Mount Athos is legally part of the European Union like the rest of Greece, the Monastic community institutions have a special jurisdiction, which was reaffirmed during the admission of Greece to the European Community (precursor to the EU).[7] This empowers the monastic community's authorities to restrict the free movement of people and goods in its territory; in particular, only males are allowed to enter, while women and most female animals are banned from Mount Athos by religious tradition of the community that lives there.[8]
Political structure
Map of the community
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 9 kilometres (5.6mi) in length. Karyes is the administrative center and the seat of the synod and of the Civil Administrator of Mount Athos with his staff of lay people in the service of the monastic community.
According to the Constitution of Greece, the territory of the monastic community which is "[t]he 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 "[a]ll 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.[9]Karyes is home to a civil administrator as the representative of the Greek state. The governor is an executive appointee.
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 (Γεροντία) 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 omologon (ομόλογον).
Monks
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 diamonitirion (διαμονητήριον).
In 958, the monk Athanasios the Athonite (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. It enjoyed the protection of the Byzantine emperors during the following centuries, and its wealth and possessions grew considerably.[12]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.[13]
The first charter of Mount Athos, signed in 972 by Emperor John Tzimiskes, Athanasius the Athonite, and 46 hegumenoi, is currently kept at the Protaton in Karyes. It is also known as the Tragos ('goat'), since it was written on goatskin parchment.[14] The second charter or typikon of Mount Athos was written in September 1045 and signed by 180 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".[13]
From 985 to 1287,[15] there was a Benedictinemonastery on Mount Athos (between Magisti Lavra and Philotheou Karakallou[16]) known as Amalphion after the people of Amalfi who founded it.[17] The monastery was founded with 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.[15]
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 (Άγιος Γρηγόριος ο Παλαμάς). In late 1371 or early 1372 the Byzantines defeated an Ottoman attack on Athos.[12]
Serbian era and influences
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.[18][19]
From 1342 until 1372 Mount Athos was under Serbian administration. Serbian EmperorStefan Dušan helped Mount Athos with many large donations to all monasteries. In the charter of emperor Stefan Dušan to the Monastery of Hilandar[20] 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.[21]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.[22][full citation needed] She avoided breaking the ban [clarification needed] by not touching the ground for her entire visit, being constantly carried in a hand carriage.[23]
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.[24]
The time of the Serbian Empire was a prosperous period for Hilandar and of other monasteries in Mount Athos and many of them were restored and rebuilt and significantly enlarged.[22][full citation needed]
Serbian princess Mara Branković was the second Serbian woman that was granted permissions 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[25]
Ottoman era
The Byzantine Empire ceased to exist in the 15th century and the Ottoman Empire took its place.[26]
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 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.[28]
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.[29]
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.[30] This institution offered high level education, especially under Eugenios Voulgaris, where ancient philosophy and modern physical science were taught.[31]
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 Un mois chez les hommes ("A Month with Men").[34] 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".[35]
A monk named Mihailo Tolotos is claimed to have lived in the monastic community from c. 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.[36] 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.[37]
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".[38] 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" (German: Hoher Protektor des heiligen Berges) from the monks. The monastic community was able to avoid significant damage during the war.[39][bettersourceneeded]
Contemporary times
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.[40] 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.[citation needed]
The monasteries also have opposed ecumenism between the Orthodox Church of Constantinople and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Following the First[41] and Second[42]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 Anathemas[43] 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".[44] After the dissolution of the Yugoslav Communist regime and Socialist Yugoslavia many presidents and prime ministers of Serbia visited Mount Athos.[45]
A 2003 resolution of the European Parliament requested the lifting of the ban [clarification needed] for violating "the universally recognised principle of gender equality".[46]
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.[47]
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 8,100 hectares (20,000 acres) of land on the nearby Chalkidiki peninsula. About 10 women jumped over the border fence spent about 20 minutes on the monastery territory, being joined by MP Litsa Ammanatidou-Paschalidou.[48]
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.[53]
Monastic life
Period of acme after 1970
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.[54] 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. The history of the modern revival of monastic life on Mount Athos and its entry into the technological world of the twenty-first century has been chronicled in Graham Speake's book, now in its second edition, Mount Athos. Renewal in Paradise.[55]
Monasteries
A map of Mount Athos with the monasteries indicated
A pilgrim/visitor to a monastery who is accommodated in the archontariki[ru] (αρχονταρίκι) or guesthouse can have a taste of the monastic life in it by following 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.
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.
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.[56]
List of religious institutions
Twenty monasteries
The sovereign monasteries, in the order of their place in the Athonite hierarchy:
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 Nea Tivaida[ru] (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 Rosiko[bg] (Ρωσικό) and Chourmitsa[bg] (Μετόχι Χουρμίτσας) (both Russian sketes).
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 diamonitirion (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" (Greek: Περιβόλι της Παναγιάς, romanized:Perivoli tis Panagias) by the monks.[59] 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.[60] Until the year 2000, the monks of Mount Athos prohibited entry to any Catalan citizens due to the events sparked by the Catalan Company, a mercenary army, in the XIV century.[61]
The 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.[64] High season is typically during July, August, Christmas, Great Lent, and Easter, and slots may fill up a few months in advance.
The idikon diamonitirion or "individual permit" (Greek: 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 2020[65] until 11 May 2021.[66]
Prohibition on entry of women
Sign at entrance to Mount Athos
The monastic community bans women and female animals from entry in what is called an avaton (Άβατον). This intended to make living in celibacy easier for men who have chosen to do so.[67] 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.[68][69]
Female domestic animals such as cows or sheep are also barred, the only exception being cats due to their mousing abilities.[71]
Status in the European Union
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.[72] 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.[73] 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.[74]
The Hilandar Monastery is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian Orthodox monastery there.
The Monastery of Great Lavra is the first monastery built on Mount Athos, on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of 160 metres (170 yd). The founding of the monastery in AD 963 by Athanasius the Athonite marks the beginning of the organized monastic life at Mount Athos. At the location of the monastery, there was one of the ancient cities of the Athos peninsula, perhaps Akrothooi, from which the sarcophagi of the monastery that are in the oil storage house come. The history of the monastery is the most complete compared to the history of the other monasteries, because its historical archives were preserved almost intact. It is possible that the study of these archives may contribute to the completion of the knowledge of the history of other monasteries, whose archives were partially or completely lost.
The Sacred Patriarchal and Stauropegic Monastery Esphigmenou is an Eastern Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Ascension of Christ in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It is built next to the sea at the northern part of the Athonite peninsula. Located near the Hilandar monastery, it is the northernmost of all Athonite monasteries.
Athanasius the Athonite, was a Byzantine monk who is considered the founder of the monastic community on the peninsula of Mount Athos, which has since evolved into the greatest centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. The monastery was expanded several times during its history, particularly during the Byzantine period and in the 18th and 19th centuries. More than 120 monks live in the monastery.
Simonopetra Monastery, also Monastery of Simonos Petra, is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It ranks 13th in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries.
Dionysiou Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece, at the southwest part of the Athos peninsula. The monastery ranks fifth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. It is one of the twenty self-governing monasteries in Athos, and it was dedicated to John the Baptist.
Pantokratoros Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It stands on the north-eastern side of the Athos peninsula, and is dedicated to the Transfiguration of Our Lord. The monastery ranks seventh in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries.
The Docheiariou monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece.
Philotheou or Filotheou Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It stands on the north-eastern side of the peninsula.
Agiou Pavlou Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos, located on the easternmost peninsula of Chalkidiki, Greece. The founder of monastery was Paul of Xeropotamou, after whom it is named.
Stavronikita Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece, dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It is built on top of a rock near the sea near the middle of the eastern shore of the Athonite Peninsula, located between the monasteries of Iviron and Pantokratoros. The site where the monastery is built was first used by Athonite monks as early as the 10th century. Stavronikita was the last to be officially consecrated as an Athonite monastery in 1536 and ranks fifteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. It currently has 30 to 40 monks.
The Holy Monastery of Saint Gregory, also known as Gregoriou Monastery is an Orthodox Christian monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. The Monastery ranks seventeenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. It is built by the sea, on the southeastern side of the peninsula, neighboring the monasteries of Simonopetras and Dionysiou. Gregoriou is very much a pilgrim friendly monastery with a strong sense of pastoral care. Pilgrim visitors are numerous and well provided for. The Monastery is completely girt by the sea, built on a corner of land jutting into the sea, with only steep craggy rocks backed up behind it.
Karyes is a settlement in Mount Athos of the Athonite monastic community. The 2021 Greek census reported a population of 135 inhabitants. It is the largest settlement in Mount Athos.
The protos is a monastic office at the Eastern Orthodox monastic community of Mount Athos in Greece. The office headquarters are located in Karyes, Mount Athos.
Saint Panteleimon Monastery, also known as Rossikon or New Russik, is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos, located on the southwestern side of the peninsula in Northern Greece. It is the Russian monastery on the peninsula. It houses exclusively Russian monks, sent by the Russian Orthodox Church, and the liturgies are served in Russian, despite the fact that all monks on Mount Athos eventually become citizens of Greece.
Lakkoskiti is the short form name of a small "monastic village" of not more than 15 "huts" (houses) consisting the idiorrhythmic "skete of Agiou Dimitriou tou Lakkou". It is situated in the north foothills of Mount Athos, in Greece, in the Morfonou River valley and surrounded by a forest of chestnut trees. The summit of Antiathonas is located just to the southwest of the skete. Lakkoskiti is inhabited by Romanian monks.
Saint Sava, known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law, and a diplomat. Sava, born as Rastko Nemanjić, was the youngest son of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, and ruled the appanage of Zachlumia briefly in 1190–92. He then left for Mount Athos, where he became a monk with the name Sava (Sabbas). At Athos he established the monastery of Hilandar, which became one of the most important cultural and religious centres of the Serbian people. In 1219 the Patriarchate exiled in Nicea recognized him as the first Serbian Archbishop, and in the same year he authored the oldest known constitution of Serbia, the Zakonopravilo nomocanon, thus securing full religious and political independence. Sava is regarded as the founder of Serbian medieval literature.
The Skete of Saint Andrew, also the Skete of Apostle Andrew and Great Anthony or Skiti Agiou Andrea in Karyes is a monastic institution (skete) on Mount Athos. It is a dependency of Vatopedi Monastery and is the site of the Athonias Ecclesiastical Academy.
Mount Athos has an extensive network of footpaths, many of which date back to the Byzantine period. These paths are typically trails designed for human foot traffic and mules, and are not wide enough for motor vehicles. They connect the various monasteries, sketes, cells, kathismas, and hermitages on the peninsula to each other.
↑ John Anthony McGuckin (15 December 2010). The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. John Wiley & Sons. p.182. ISBN978-1-4443-9254-8. 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.
1 2 Vacalopoulos, A.E. (1973). History of Macedonia, 1354–1833. pp.166–167. 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).
↑ Joint 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.
↑ Joint 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.
↑ Joint 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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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" <http://www.trismegistos.org/geo/detail.php?tm=3375Archived 26 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine >
↑ Speake, Graham; Ware, Kallistos (2012). Mount Athos: Microcosm of the Christian East. Oxford: Lang, Peter, AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. pp.48–50. ISBN978-3-0353-0233-2. OCLC823378976.
↑ Athonite monasticism at the dawn of the third millennium, Pravmir Portal, September 2007.
↑ Rubió y Lluch, Antonio (2001). 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. Memòries de la Secció Històrico-Arqueològica (Ed. facs. [der Ausg.] Barcelona 1947; 1.ed.). Barcelona: Inst. d'Estudis Catalans. p.50. ISBN978-84-7283-612-9.
↑ Mount Athos. Archived 28 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine , an IFPA (Independent Film Production Associates Limited)– Cinevideo co-production in association with Channel 4 Television, London. 1985.
↑ Schwimmer, Walter. "Human Rights Aspects of Current Problems of Mount Athos". Report to international conference: 'The Holy Mount Athos– the unique spiritual and cultural heritage of modern world' (Weimar, Germany) 23–26 June 2012. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
Holy Mountain. Stone Arched Bridges and Aqueducts ( ISBN978-618-00-0827-2) by Frangiscos Martinos. Edited by Dimitri Michalopoulos (Athens, 2019).
Mount AthosISBN960-213-075-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 FreeISBN0-330-10629-5 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: GreeceISBN0-393-30372-1, pp.600–03. Offers history and tourist information.
Mount Athos: Renewal in ParadiseISBN978-0300093537, 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.
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 AthosISBN978-2-503-58911-4, 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.
Mileusnić, Slobodan (2000) [1989]. Sveti Srbi (in Serbian). Novi Sad: Prometej. ISBN8676394784. OCLC44601641.
Speake, Graham (2018). A history of the Athonite Commonwealth: the spiritual and cultural diaspora of Mount Athos. New York. ISBN978-1-108-34922-2. OCLC1041501028.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Gothóni, René; Speake, Graham (2008). The monastic magnet: roads to and from Mount Athos. Bern: Peter Lang. ISBN978-3-03911-337-8. OCLC230209474.
Conomos, Dimitri E.; Speake, Graham (2005). Mount Athos, the sacred bridge: the spirituality of the Holy Mountain. Oxford: Peter Lang. ISBN3-03910-064-5. OCLC67924540.
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Greece 
