A journey to Mt Athos is a journey into time. On the steep cliffs and in the dense woods of the Holy Mountain for over 1000 years the historic world of Orthodox monasticism has lived unchanged. Ancient monasteries with monumental architecture, imposing walls and towers, boathouses (arsanades), kelia with stone domes scattered everywhere among the verdant vegatation, habits from other eras and a silent host of black-clad monks who bear a remarkable resemblance to the ascetic figures in the wall-paintings adorning their churches. The visit by the traveller-pilgrim to the majesty of the Athonite state is one of the loveliest and most precious journeys one can make in Greece.
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