Can you believe if I say that there is a place on the earth where every female, including men, animals and birds have no permission to enter? Actually, there is such a place and it is Mount Athos. It is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece and an important center of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
Mount Athos is also known as the Holy Mountain. It is an autonomous nation where about 2000 men live. It is also known as men’s republic. This place is 2033 meters above the sea level.
For the last thousand years, Russian Orthodox monks are the residents here. Women are not permitted beyond 500-meter distance from the island. Mount Athos is considered as the epicenter of monasticism and spirituality. In this place rich in natural beauty, there are 20 monasteries functioning under the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Mount Athos was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.
Women are banned from entering this area to safeguard the celibacy of men. Many emperors were strict about this matter. Monks, who live here, are engaged in prayers for the world, immersed in meditation. They do not want anything here that perturbs their prayer life.
History says that Christian monks arrived here before AD 850. But it was in AD 963 that the monastic life was streamlined and the monastery came into being. In later times, the monastery underwent many changes and eventually the building we see today was formed.
The inmates of the monastery had their own constitution in 1924. It was a part of the Greek constitution. A holy community consisting of 20 monks from 20 monasteries is governing Mount Athos. There is an apex body consisting of four monks. About 2000 monks are residing here. The rest are officials engaged in various tasks.
The monks depend on agriculture, fishing, handicrafts, etc. for their livelihood. Their diet consists of vegetables and seasonal food. Although there are English-speaking monks, they generally speak Greek.
Even though women are not permitted to enter, there are incidents when some women stealthily entered here in disguise. Greek journalist Malvina Caroli is one of them. Caroli claimed that she entered here in 1990, dressed as a man. Women who enter here are punished with a year’s imprisonment. Nevertheless, there is news that during the Greek Civil War, some girls and women, running for life, found shelter here.
100 Greek Orthodox men and 10 non-orthodox men are permitted to visit this place in a day. Nonetheless, men from any religion can visit this monastery.
