Mount Athos

Mount Athos is an "Autonomous Monastic State" in Greece, (unique in the world), at the Athos peninsula of Chalkidiki, which is considered as the centre of the Orthodox monasticism. It is considered as one of the most important areas, not only of the Balkans but of the Europe and of the Eastern Church also due to its great national, historical, religious, secretarial and artistic value and even as a centre of conservation and of maintenance of rich material.

The architectural heritage of Mount Athos, effect and residual of the activity of thousands of years and of development of the numerous monastic institutions, can at some extent to be regarded that is summarizing the medieval and the modern architecture of the Orthodox Balkan region.
It is a shelter and a museum of unique treasures of Greek art and literature. But the most important about the Mount Athos is the fact that it expresses, in the most comprehensive way, the Orthodox monasticism. This is a monastic town of thousands of years that is alive till today.

It is a world simple and difficult that gives rest to spirit, fills the soul and experiences the essence of Orthodoxy. A world that lives based in God and in the thousand of year of its history that had and has as a primary feature the high spirituality. The entire life of the monks and all of their works are products of this spirituality. Each heirloom is a gate to heaven, a gateway to paradise.

The everyday life in Mount Athos is organized according to cognitive command of "continuous pray". The concerns for the satisfaction of the living needs are interwoven with pray and they are adapted to the purely devotional pursuits.

The topography and the climate of Mount Athos, combined with the transport characteristics, contributed to the intact preservation of the elements of the daily life of Mount Athos.