Mount Athos - Work in Progress

Mt. Athos, or Agios Oros (The Holy Mountain), is a small peninsula in Northern Greece. It is a semi-autonomous peninsula and can only be accessed - legally - by boat. Entry is reserved mostly for Orthodox Christians - though for Greeks that just means being Greek - and all would-be pilgrims must make a reservation well in advance (three weeks to three months) via the Mt. Athos Pilgrims Office. Recently, Mt. Athos has begun a great deal of renovation and reconstruction, and what once was a - supposedly - modern-free and peaceful world has now become filled with the sounds of trucks, drills, cell-phones, and rickety generators. Monks drive cars and run a taxi service; they smuggle computers and cameras into theır houses; in short, they are modern, and so is Mount Athos. But, in my opinion, it is still worth a visit, and with a good map and a bit of forethought much of the modern sights and sounds can be avoided.

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To get to Mt. Athos was a bit of a hassel. The only boat that left the mainland for Athos was at 9 o'clock, and it takes two hours to get to the ferry stop from Thessaloniki. For some reason, the Pilgrim's Office requires you to check-in an hour before the ferry leaves. Thus, I had to catch the early morning bus out of Thessaloniki at 530 am, take two hours to get to Ouranoupolis to catch the ferry, wait a couple of hours for the ferry, and fınally take the two hour ferry to Mt. Athos, arriving promptly at noon. The whole trip was dark and rainy, and I tried to get as much sleep as possible, as I had planned a long hike to my first monastery.

Immediately on arrival at the bus station I figured Mt. Athos was going to be a bit different then I had expected. No dishevelled looking spiritual-seekers, just rich Greeks with leather jackets and bags, and of course the occassional monk. I was also the youngest pilgrim by at least 20 years. Trying not to make too many premature judgements, I spent my time in abstract thought and dozed in and out throughout most of the transport.

As the ferry boat neared the first monastery I was shocked by the sheer size and wealth of the buildings. As a child I had always imagined Mt. Athos to be filled with wooden huts and small out-door chapels. Instead the monastaries are incredible and look very much like large, military fortresses - which they were, in fact, used for. The whole peninsula is split and divided among the various monasteries - who, from time to time, argue about the borders - and the income from the land is used to support and maintain them. To my sense of idealism this was quite offensive, as I imagined monasticsm to be money-free.

...(to be continued)