Mount Athos

   Mount Athos is a very mysterious place. It is called Agio Oros in Greek which mean "Holy Mountain." Mount Athos is said to have been founded by Mary, the Mother of God herself, thus her blessing is upon it. Even if it's located on a peninsula the only way to get there is by ship which makes it a very remote and isolated place. It is governed by a religious assembly of the heads of the monasteries and has its own set of laws. It is treated as an independent entity by the Greek government. Only one hundred Christian Orthodox pilgrims are allowed to enter it everyday and only ten non-orthodox persons. The visa lasts for 3 days but nobody will drive you away even if you stay there for a couple of weeks or even months as long as you have something set up for accommodation with one of the monasteries or monks' dwellings called skiatos. Long trousers and long-sleeved shirts are mandatory but in the summer T-shits or polo shirts would do as it is very hot. Another thing, only men are allowed on the mountain.
   A picture is worth a thousand words so take a look at some pictures before I tell you some more about Agio Oros.
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This is St. Panteleimon Monastery, a Russian monastery on the mountain.

 

 

My Adventures in Greece

   This summer my friend Sergiu and I decided that we wanted to visit Mount Athos in Greece. Mount Athos is considered to be the lullaby of Orthodox Christianity. One of my other friends, Andrei, went there last summer and told us what a great place it was for experiencing the workings of Christianity within oneself. He didn't tell us much about his pilgrimage but just by looking at his face I could see how life changing his experience must have been. He looked truly peaceful and content, as somebody who has seen a glimpse of God and understood a bit more of God's truly magnificent work, our beautiful world. After that I decided that I also wanted to go to Mount Athos and so did my friend Sergiu. Unfortunately we just stayed two days on the mountain but our trip still turned out to be great as we traveled throughout Greece. On our journey we visited 8 towns in Greece (not counting the holy mountain) and a lot of sights. It was also a beautiful spiritual trip as we visited many churches and monasteries and revered many holy objects.

   I will write about each place we visited and share the impressions and experiences we had there. I hope you will enjoy the journey and learn something  new about the world from my stories in which I will try my best to relay the love and happiness of traveling that I attained on this trip.    
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