Saint Athos is a mountain on the half-mountain of northeastern Greece. It is said that during their wanderings the Mother of God preached here the Gospel and promised to be "The stumbling-block of this place and the warm-hearted Advocate before God." In the IV century, the first monasteries began to be erected here. At the same time, in order to save the monks from the fleshly temptations, a ban was introduced to visit the peninsula by women.
Legal and factual power
Although legally Athos is the territory of Greece, in fact it is under the authority of the Holy Council, the executive body of this state in the state. That is why monks living in the monasteries of St. Athos do not pay taxes and duties. The official name of the peninsula in the system of administrative regions of Greece is the "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain".
In addition to completely secular patrons, there is a Heavenly Protector on the peninsula. The Mother of God is officially considered the ruler of these places. Probably, therefore, the most usual tenderloin from the magazine with the image of the Virgin can be myrrh. Monks believe that the Mother of God is present on the peninsula when a small white cloud hangs on the very summit of Mount Athos.
Chess Tournament in the Holy Land
Alas, even in the territory of the Holy Land, there is a game in the alignment of forces.
Among the representatives of Rus, the aspiration in the faith was so strong that the pilgrims flocked to Athos in an endless stream. At one time the Russians were half of all the monks of Mount Athos. The oldest Russian temple here existed already in the IX century. Since the XII century stands the Russian Holy Panteleimon monastery.
Monasticism in the Holy Land throughout his life knew both blossoms and falls. And prudent political moves were made not only by the "secular" state. So, to prevent the strengthening of the position of the Russians on the Holy Mountain, Russian monks were evicted from the Russian monastery (Rusika) by the cells and monasteries of the whole island. Russky himself was occupied by Greek monks.
Then the game was corrected by policy. Monks lost and re-acquired estates, in the thirteenth century monasticism suffered a general decline, and for a time the world forgot where the holy mountain Athos is. Then there was a period of rebirth, a period of stay under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and finally, in 1912 the peninsula was returned to Greece. At the same time, the Russian government insisted on the return of the Panteleimon monastery to Russian monks.
Today this is a matter of history, and not only the Greeks, but also Serbs, Romanians, Bulgarians, Russians, are working on the territory of the holy peninsula.
Monasteries and monasteries
It turns out that there is an official hierarchy of monasteries, according to which there are 20 monasteries on the peninsula: the Great Lavra, Vatoped, Iversky Monastery, Hilandar, Dionysiat, Kutluush, Pantokrator, Xiropotam, Zograf, Dohiyar, Karakal, Filofei, Simonopetra, St. Paul Monastery, Stavronikita Monastery , Xanonot, Esfigmen, St. Panteleimon monastery, Constamonite.
It is interesting that the monasteries of the Holy Mount Athos are literally "fixed" by this list, that is, the creation of new monasteries in the territory of Athos is not simply ruled out, but it is prohibited by law. True, there are 12 settlements on the Holy Mountain of Mount Athos, in fact nothing from monasteries that differ, except for the formal status. These are large sketes, which, unlike the monastery, do not have the right to land ownership, so that in fact they are dependent on the monastery on the territory of which they are located.
Visiting the island
No matter how women fought for the right to enter the territory of the Holy Land, they are still banned from entering the land of the Holy Island. Even as tourists. In fact, this law has been violated many times, but always with a great risk for "criminals". And the risks are quite terrestrial - up to one year in prison.
The land border of Athos is guarded, all pilgrims come exclusively by sea, and on the pier they undergo a thorough examination. However, not only women are deprived of the right to visit the monastery monastery. Under the ban were all pets. Even birds, according to rumors, try not to build nests on the island, so as not to interfere with solitude and prayers.