The isolated hill
Known for its more than 20 monasteries and monks, Mount Athos is a Greek mountain and peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is, in parallel, an autonomous political entity of the Hellenic Republic itself – Greece – being led by the Greek Orthodox Church.
Under the official name of the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain, the mountain is not covered by the European Union’s free movement of persons convention – the so-called Schengen Area – which was negotiated by Greece at the time of its accession to the then European Economic Community ).
Their religious facet and this geopolitical peculiarity mean that women, children and even female animals can not enter this territory.
The mountain has more than 2,000 monks, who live a centuries-old and isolated lifestyle – spend eight hours a day in the Church, help their religious inhabitants to focus on religion, read their rare books, ancient documents and make their own. art. See some of the location photos.