Mount Athos is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed as an autonomous region in Greece by the monastic community of Mount Athos, which is ecclesiastically under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The remainder of the peninsula forms part of the Aristotelis municipality. Women are prohibited from entering the area governed by the monastic community by Greek law and by religious tradition.
The Hilandar Monastery is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian Orthodox monastery there.
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.
Xeropotamou monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece, in the middle side of peninsula. The monastery ranks eighth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. It was founded in the 10th century, and is dedicated to the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
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.
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 Paisios of Mount Athos, was a well-known Greek Eastern Orthodox ascetic from Mount Athos, originally from Pharasa, Cappadocia. He was respected for his spiritual guidance and ascetic life. Today, he is widely venerated by Eastern Orthodox Christians, particularly in Greece, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and Syria.
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.
Niphon Kausokalybites was a Greek Orthodox Christian saint and monk. He is celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on June 14.
The monastic community of Mount Athos is an Eastern Orthodox community of monks in Greece who hold the status of an autonomous region with its own sovereignty within Greece and the European Union, as well as the combined rights of a decentralized administration, a region and a municipality, with a territory encompassing the distal part of the Athos peninsula including Mount Athos. The bordering proximal part of the peninsula belongs to the regular Aristotelis community in Central Macedonia.
Saint Daniel Katounakiotis of Smyrna was a Greek Orthodox monk who lived on Mount Athos. He was canonized as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2020. His feast is commemorated on September 7.
Saint Acacius or Akakios the Younger, also known as Akakios the New of Kafsokalyvia was a Greek Orthodox Christian monk and ascetic who lived on Mount Athos. His feast day is celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on April 12.
Graham Speake is a British classical philologist and Byzantinist.
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.
