Mount Athos

Coordinates: 40°09′30″N 24°19′38″E

Mount Athos (/ˈæθɒs/; Greek: Ἄθως [ˈa.θos]) is a

mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece. It
Mount Athos
is an important center of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are
governed as an autonomous region in Greece by the
monastic community of Mount Athos, which is
ecclesiastically under the direct jurisdiction of the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The remainder of
the peninsula forms part of the Aristotelis municipality.
Women are prohibited from entering the area governed by
the monastic community by Greek law and by religious
tradition.[2]

Mount Athos has been inhabited since ancient times and is Highest point
known for its long Christian presence and historical
monastic traditions, which date back to at least 800 AD Elevation 2,033[1] m (6,670 ft)
during the Byzantine era. Because of its long history of Prominence 2,012 m (6,601 ft)
religious importance, the well-preserved agrarian
Listing Ultra
architecture within the monasteries, and the preservation of
the flora and fauna around the mountain, the monastic Coordinates 40°09′30″N 24°19′38″E
community of Mount Athos was added to the UNESCO Geography
World Heritage List in 1988.[3]

Names Mount Athos

In the classical era, Mount Athos was called Athos and the
peninsula Acté or Akté (Koinē Greek: Ἀκτή). In modern
Greek, the mountain is Oros Athos (Greek: Όρος Άθως)
and the peninsula Hersonisos tou Atho (Greek:
Χερσόνησος του Άθω), while the designation Agio Oros
(Greek: Άγιο Όρος) translating to 'Holy Mountain' is also
used.[4] Location of Mount Athos in Greece.

Some languages of Orthodox tradition use names that Location Europe

translate to 'Holy Mountain', including Bulgarian,
Country Greece
Macedonian and Serbian (Света Гора, Sveta Gora), and
Georgian (მთაწმინდა, mtats’minda). However, not all Region Agio Oros
languages spoken in the Eastern Orthodox world use this
name: in the East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Type Mixed
Criteria i, ii, iv, v, vi, vii
Designated 1988 (12th session)
and Belarusian) it is simply called Афон (Afon, meaning Reference no. 454 (https://whc.unesco.or
"Athos"), while in Romanian it is called "Mount Athos" g/en/list/454)
(Muntele Athos or Muntele Atos).
Region Europe

Geography
The peninsula, the easternmost "leg" of the larger
Chalkidiki peninsula in central Macedonia, protrudes
50 km (31 mi)[5] into the Aegean Sea at a width of
between 7 and 12 km (4.3 and 7.5 mi) and covers an
area of 335.6 km2 (130 sq mi). The actual Mount Athos
has steep, densely forested slopes reaching up to
2,033 m (6,670 ft). The Athos peninsula, unlike Sithonia
and Kassandra, is a geological continuation of the
Rhodope Mountains of northern Greece and Bulgaria.[6]

The surrounding seas, especially at the end of the Mount Athos - view from northwest
peninsula, can be dangerous. In ancient Greek history
two fleet disasters in the area are recorded: Herodotus
claimed that in 492 BC, Darius, the king of Persia, lost 300 ships under general Mardonius.[7] In 411 BC
the Spartans lost a fleet of 50 ships under the admiral Epicleas.[8]

Mount Athos has an extensive network of footpaths, many of which date back to the Byzantine period.
Many are typically not accessible to motor vehicle traffic.[9]

Flora
Much of Mount Athos is covered with mixed broadleaf deciduous and evergreen forests. Black pine (Pinus
nigra) forests are found at higher elevations. Sclerophyllous scrub vegetation is also found throughout
Mount Athos. Typical forest trees are sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), holm oak (Quercus ilex), kermes
oak (Quercus coccifera), Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto), oriental plane (Platanus orientalis), black pine
(Pinus nigra), and cedar (Calocedrus decurrens). Other common plant species include the strawberry tree
(Arbutus unedo and Arbutus andrachne), cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), laurel (Laurus nobilis), lentisk
(Pistacia lentiscus), phillyrea (Phillyrea latifolia), wild olive (Olea europea), and heather (Erica spp.).[10]
Deciduous trees that are primarily found alongside streams include white willow, laurel, Oriental plane, and
alder trees.[11]

Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) is more commonly found in the northern part of the peninsula. Broadleaf
maquis is found further south. Deciduous broadleaf forest dominated by sweet chestnut lies above the
broadleaf maquis zone. There are also mixed forests consisting deciduous oak trees, as well as limes, aspen,
hop hornbeam, and maple. Black pine and stinking juniper can be found at higher elevations. Some
herbaceous plants with tubers and bulbs include crocus, anemone, cyclamen, and fritillary species.[12]

At least 35 plant species are endemic to Mount Athos, most of which are found in the area of the main
summit in the south.[13] Isatis tinctoria ssp. athoa, a woad subspecies, and Viola athois are named after
Mount Athos.[12]
Mount Athos is also home to 350 species of mushrooms.[14][15][16][17][18]

Fauna
Mammals include the grey wolf (Canis lupus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), jackal
(Canis aureus), European badger (Meles meles), beech marten (Martes foina), stoat (Mustela erminea),
weasel (Mustela nivalis vulgaris), European hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor), shrews (Crocidura spp.), and
Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus).[10] Other mammal species include roe deer, hares, and
red squirrels.[19]

Birds include the black stork (Ciconia nigra), short-toed snake-eagle (Circaetus gallicus), golden eagle
(Aquila chrysaetos), lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), eagle owl (Bubo
bubo), yelkouan shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan), and Audouin's gull (Larus audouinii).[20][21] Other bird
species include swifts, swallows, martins, nightingales, and hoopoes.[19]

History

Antiquity

In Greek mythology, Athos is the name of one of the Gigantes that

challenged the Greek gods during the Gigantomachia. Athos threw
a massive rock at Poseidon which fell in the Aegean Sea and
became Mount Athos.[22] According to another version of the story,
Poseidon used the mountain to bury the defeated giant.
A 3D model of Athos
Homer mentions the mountain Athos in the Iliad.[23] Herodotus
writes that, during the Persian invasion of Thrace in 492 BC, the
fleet of the Persian commander Mardonius was wrecked with
losses of 300 ships and 20,000 men, by a strong North wind while
attempting to round the coast near Mount Athos.[24] Herodotus
mentions the peninsula, then called Akte, telling us that Pelasgians
from the island of Lemnos populated it and naming five cities
thereon, Sane, Kleonai (Cleonae), Thyssos (Thyssus), Olophyxos
(Olophyxus), and Akrothoon (Acrothoum).[25] Strabo also
mentions the cities of Dion (Dium) and Akrothoon.[26] Eretria also
established colonies on Akte. At least one other city was established
in the Classical period: Akanthos (Acanthus). Some of these cities Imaginary view of the Alexander
minted their own coins. monument, proposed by Dinocrates.
Engraving by Johann Bernhard
The peninsula was on the invasion route of Xerxes I, who spent Fischer von Erlach, 1725
three years[27] excavating the Xerxes Canal across the isthmus to
allow the passage of his invasion fleet in 483 BC. After the death of
Alexander the Great, the architect Dinocrates (Deinokrates) proposed carving the entire mountain into a
statue of Alexander.

Pliny the Elder stated in 77 AD that the inhabitants of Mount Athos could "live to their four hundredth
year" due to the fact that they eat the skin of vipers.[28]
The history of the peninsula during latter ages is shrouded by the lack of historical accounts. Archaeologists
have not been able to determine the exact location of the cities reported by Strabo. It is believed that they
must have been deserted when Athos' new inhabitants, the monks, started arriving some time before the
ninth century AD.[29]

Early Christianity

According to the Athonite tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was

sailing accompanied by St John the Evangelist from Joppa to
Cyprus to visit Lazarus. When the ship was blown off course to
then-pagan Athos, it was forced to anchor near the port of Klement,
close to the present monastery of Iviron. The Virgin walked ashore
and, overwhelmed by the wonderful and wild natural beauty of the
mountain, she blessed it and asked her Son for it to be her garden.
A voice was heard saying, " Ἔστω ὁ τόπος οὗτος κλῆρος σὸς καὶ The peninsula as seen from the
περιβόλαιον σὸν καὶ παράδεισος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ λιμὴν σωτήριος τῶν summit of Mount Athos
θελόντων σωθῆναι" (Translation: "Let this place be your
inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for
those seeking to be saved"). From that moment the mountain was consecrated as the garden of the Mother
of God and was out of bounds to all other women.[note 1]

Historical documents on ancient Mount Athos history are very few. It is certain that monks have been there
since the fourth century, and possibly since the third. During Constantine I's reign (324–337) both
Christians and followers of traditional Greek religion were living there. During the reign of Julian (361–
363), the churches of Mount Athos were destroyed, and Christians hid in the woods and inaccessible
places.[30]

Later, during Theodosius I's reign (379–395), the temples of the traditional Greek religion were destroyed.
The lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria states that in the fifth century there was still a temple and a
statue of "Zeus Athonite". After the Islamic conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, many Orthodox
monks from the Egyptian desert tried to find another calm place; some of them came to the Athos
peninsula. An ancient document states that monks "built huts of wood with roofs of straw ... and by
collecting fruit from the wild trees were providing themselves improvised meals."[31]

Byzantine era and onwards

See also
Sacred mountains
Okinoshima

Notes
1. St Gregory Palamas included this tradition in his book Life of Petros the Athonite, p. 150,
1005 AD.

References
1. "Mount Athos Home" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151001070854/http://inathos.gr/athos/e
 n). Archived from the original (http://www.inathos.gr/athos/en) on 1 October 2015. Retrieved
11 June 2016.
2. Why, Who, What (27 May 2016). "Why are women banned from Mount Athos?" (https://www.
bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36378690). BBC.
3. "Mount Athos" (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/454). UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 30 October
2022.
4. Davie, Grace; Leustean, Lucian N. (8 December 2021). The Oxford Handbook of Religion
and Europe (https://books.google.com/books?id=7fVQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA487). Oxford
University Press. p. 487. ISBN 978-0-19-257106-9.
5. Robert Draper, "Mount Athos" (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/athos/draper-text)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110811023226/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/
2009/12/athos/draper-text) 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, National Geographic
magazine, December 2009
6. Speake, Graham (2014). Mount Athos: renewal in paradise (2nd ed.). Limni, Evia, Greece.
p. 32. ISBN 978-960-7120-34-2. OCLC 903320491 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/90332049
1).
7. Herodotus, Histories, book VI ("Erato"); Aeschylus, The Persians.
8. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica XIII 41, 1–3.
9. "Footpaths of the Holy Mountain – FOMA" (https://athosfriends.org/visiting/clear-the-footpath
s). FOMA. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
10. UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (22 May 2017). "Mount Athos" (htt
p://world-heritage-datasheets.unep-wcmc.org/datasheet/output/site/mount-athos). World
Heritage Datasheet. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
11. Speake, Graham (2014). Mount Athos: renewal in paradise (2nd ed.). Limni, Evia, Greece.
p. 33. ISBN 978-960-7120-34-2. OCLC 903320491 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/90332049
1).
12. Speake, Graham (2014). Mount Athos: renewal in paradise (2nd ed.). Limni, Evia, Greece.
p. 34. ISBN 978-960-7120-34-2. OCLC 903320491 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/90332049
1).
13. Ganiatsas, K. (2003). I vlastesis kai i chloris tis chersonesou tou Agiou Orous.
14. Cosgrove, Denis E.; Della Dora, Veronica (2009). High places: cultural geographies of
mountains, ice and science. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. ISBN 978-1-4416-2965-4.
OCLC 503441715 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/503441715).
15. S. Dafis, ‘Anthrōpines drastēriotētes kai fysiko perivallon’, in S. Dafis et al. (eds.), Fysekai
Perivallon sto Agion Oros, Thessalonica, 1998.
16. G. Sideropoulos, Agion Oros: anafores stēn anthropogeōgrafia, Athens, 2000, p. 28.
17. O. Rackham, ‘Our Lady’s Garden: the historical ecology of the Holy Mountain’, Friends of
Mount Athos, Annual Report (2000), p. 50.
18. D. Babalonas, ‘Chlōrida kai endemismos tou Agiou Orous’, in M. Parcharidou and M.
Fountoulēs (eds.), Agion Oros: fysē, latreia, technē, Vol. I, Thessalonica, 1999, p. 119.
19. Speake, Graham (2014). Mount Athos: renewal in paradise (2nd ed.). Limni, Evia, Greece.
p. 37. ISBN 978-960-7120-34-2. OCLC 903320491 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/90332049
1).
20. Grimmett, R. & Jones, T. (eds) (1989). Important Bird Areas in Europe. Technical Publication
#9, ICBP, Cambridge, U.K.
21. Heath, M. & Evans, M. (eds) (2000). Important Bird Areas in Europe: Priority Sites for
Conservation Vol.2. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
22. "Mythology and History of Chalkidiki (Halkidiki)" (https://chalkidiki.com/mythology_history.ht
ml). chalkidiki.com. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
23. Homer, Iliad 14,229.
24. Herodotus, Histories 6,44.
25. Herodotus, Histories 7,22.
26. Strabo, Geography 7,33,1.
27. Warry, J. (1998), Warfare in the Classical World, Salamander Book Ltd., London, p. 35
28. Pliny the Elder. [1] (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A199
9.02.0137%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D2) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/202110
29223357/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book%
3D7:chapter%3D2) 29 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on 30 October
2021.
29. Kadas, Sotiris (1981). The Holy Mountain (in Greek). Athens: Ekdotike Athenon. p. 9.
ISBN 978-960-213-199-2.
30. Speake, Graham (2002). Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise. Yale University Press. p. 27.
ISBN 0-300-093535.
31. Biography of Saint Athanasius the Athonite

External links
"Athos" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Ath
os). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. III (9th ed.). 1878. p. 14.

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