Agion Oros - Mount Athos

This photo was taken on the way to Stavronikita Monastery. I'm not sure which kelli it used to be however it would have been quite a large settlement as this is one of two buildings. More on this kelli in future posts. This photo is of Kaliagra ( Arsanas Koutloumousiou) from the beach path on the way to Iveron Monastery from Stavronikita. A view of the path down to the coastal tower of Iveron Monastery. On the right is the kiosk just outside the main entrance of the Monastery. Arguably, the best view of Mount Athos. This picture is taken from the courtyard outside the entrance of Stavronikita Monastery. In the bottom left corner of the photo is the chapel of St. Demetrios and the cemetery. Two monks fishing at the base of the cliff face on which Stavronikita Monastery is built on. I took this photo from the ferry on my way back to Ouranoupolis from Daphne. This elderly monk was watching the ferry pass by St. Panteleimonos Monastery (Rossikon).

Day Two: Thursday, 14 June — Vatopedi to Stavronikita A less eventful—and blessedly less rigorous!—day began with our attending Orthros in the catholikon   followed by the Divine Liturgy in the oldest of the monastery’s chapels .   I neglected to mention in my entry for Wednesday that Vatopedi is the largest community on the Mountain; there are currently about one hundred monks, and the brotherhood’s numerous buildings include thirty-four separate chapels. Owing to the large number of pilgrims and the relatively small size of the catholikon, the Liturgy is normally served simultaneously in a number of different locations. The chanters during Orthros were excellent, and I was particularly struck by something I had never seen before: in addition to the two lead chanters, who sang antiphonally from each side of the nave, there was a third monk who strode quite rapidly back and forth between them, the wide sleeves of his cassock billowing in the breeze he created. He would arriv...

Day One: Wednesday, 13 June — Ouranoupolis to Vatopedi Up at 6:30 a.m. we arrived in the lobby of our hotel—the Zeus— for breakfast at 7:45, but were told by the manager we would be well advised to secure our diamonitiria (the special permits one must have for entrance to the Mountain) and tickets for the ferry as soon as possible, so we headed to the Pilgrims’ Office, just a five minute walk from the hotel. Having stopped there yesterday, we were prepared to show our passports and reservations, and to pay the 55-Euro charge. We then walked back to the hotel and had just seated ourselves for breakfast when I heard a hearty voice across the lobby call, “So look who’s here!” It was Vincent Rossi, my former colleague at Rose Hill College, who had just arrived in town with a friend. They had come to interview someone associated with the village’s famous Byzantine tower. Vincent and I had exchanged a few emails in the spring, so he knew in general terms of our plan to come to Athos b...

I am commencing a series of posts from the pilgrimage journal of Professor James S. Cutsinger to Mount Athos. I found it fascinating when I first read this back in 2008. Enjoy.... For several years my son, Trevor, and I had discussed the possibility of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain of Athos, the world’s only monastic republic, located on the easternmost peninsula of Halkidiki in northern Greece. Renowned for its natural beauty and the numberless treasures of its ancient Byzantine monasteries, this “Garden of the Theotokos” has been the spiritual center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity for over a thousand years, and for Orthodox men—women are not permitted—it is in many ways the equivalent of what Lhasa is (or rather was) for the Tibetan Buddhist and of what Mecca is for the Muslim. In early June of 2007, the moment seemed right for this long-anticipated journey, and we set out for Greece, flying first to Thessaloniki, where we visited the Church of Saint Gregory Palamas...

A rare image taken from the top of the tower of the Holy Monastery of Stavronikita. Μία σπάνια φωτογραφία παρμένη απο την κορυφή του πύργου της Ιεράς Μονής Σταυρονικήτα.