Agion Oros - Mount Athos

Ouranoupolis is a village with splendid charm and character, one of my favourite places to visit and spend time in before entering Agion Oros and when coming out. Lets look into the origins of this village in more detail. Very little is known about the ancient town of Ouranoupolis which gave it's name to the present day village.   It was certainly built around 300 B.C. by Alexarhos the brother of Macedonian king Cassandros.   The exact position of the ancient town is not known but it was certainly located on or close to the current village.   It was important enough to have struck it's own coinage. Some of these coins have been found in the area and three of them are exhibited in the British Museum.   It appears that ancient Ouranoupolis did not survive for very long. Monumental walls and possibly the remains of an ancient town have been discovered in the sea.   One Autumn in 1954 a Swedish underwater expedition believed to have found the...

Upon my visit to the Holy Monastery of Iveron last year to partake in the great feast of The Dormition of Our Lady, I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Elder Epiphanios of The Holy Cell of Milopotamos. The all night vigil is long and between liturgical commitments I set aside some time to seek out Elder Epiphanios. It didn't take long to find him, on my first walk to the back entrance to the kitchen, there he was, taking a much needed rest from the hot fire. We spent some time together, chatting about Australia and the Holy Mountain, food and wine also. It was a blessing to have spent some time with Elder Epiphanios after so many years.