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Holy Mountain of Athos
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The end of a peninsula that stretches from Macedonia into the Ægean,
Mount Athos is the home of an autonomous theocracy of 20 monasteries, all
of which are independent of one another. The mountain is under the
protection of the Theotokos, who, according to legend, was blown off
course there with St. John the Theologian. When she arrived, the idols
fell. Since the XI Century, no female of any species has been allowed on
the Holy Mountain.
Hermits and Vlach shepherds are said to have lived on Athos before
Athanasius the Athonite established the Great Lavra c. 963. By 1400,
nineteen monasteries had been founded; these are built near the coast and
tend to be cenobitic. Many follow the rule of St. Basil or that of the
Studion. Hermits, usually idiorrythmic, live in the interior wilderness
of Athos.
Karen Rae Keck
See also: Hilandar;
-
Anthony Bryer:
Peak of Perception.
Review of Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise,
by Graham Speake.
--- Cornucopia
-
Cellist Feels Reborn.
Describes a visit to Mt. Athos by the musician Mstislav
Rostropovich.
Athens News Agency story, 1993 February 8.
Scroll down page.
--- HRI
- Xavier Zimbardo:
Monks of Dust, (2001).
New York: Rizzoli, 2001.
Mostly "artsy", vaguely surreal
photographs.
- Theodosius Zygomalas:
De Monte Sinai et Monte Athone.
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