Athos and monastery Hilandar

Mount Athos or Agion Oros, as it is locally known, is the oldest surviving monastic community in the world. It dates back more than a thousand years, to Byzantine times. It is a unique monastic republic, which, although part of Greece, it is governed by its own local administration.




It occupies the best part of the Athos peninsula in Halkidiki. It consists of a range which runs south-east for thirty miles from Xerxes' Canal, where Xerxes the Persian King cut a canal across the peninsula for his ships to pass. A rugged, sea-battered peninsula 56 kilometers long. Two kilometers wide at the canal, it broadens to eight, with a long back-bone rising into peaks of roughly five hundred, six hundred, six hundred and fifty, eight hundred and fifty and a thousand meters.

Today there are 20 monasteries of which 17 are Greek, one Russian, one Serbian, and one Bulgarian. There are also twelve Skites (similar to monasteries but much smaller), a large number of Kellia (large farm houses), Kalyves (smaller houses), Kathismata (small houses for a single monk) and Hesychasteria(hermitages or caves in desolate cliff faces, for the most austere hermits).. Each monastery is autonomous and is led by the Igoumenos (Abbot), helped by a committee. The procedure to obtain the appropriate permit is complicated and lengthy, especially for non Orthodox visitors. There is a daily quota of 120 Orthodox pilgrims and 10 non Orthodox. Orthodox Greeks can apply by producing their identity card at the Athos Bureau in Ouranoupolis. Non Orthodox pilgrims have to establish a valid reason for visiting Mount Athos, by producing a letter of recommendation from their embassy or an academic institution. They must also explain in another letter the reason for their proposed visit. Sightseeing or tourism are not valid reasons. Pilgrimage or study are. The two letters and passport have to be submitted a least a month ahead of the proposed date of the visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate of Churches in Athens, or to the Ministry of Northern Greece, Directorate of Civil Affairs in Thessaloniki. An authorization is issued which should be presented to the Athos Bureau in Ouranoupolis a day before the visit where the Diamonitirion (permit) is produced, specifying the date of entry. The maximum stay permitted is four days. The ship sails the next day from the jetty by the Byzantine tower.After entry the pilgrims are free to visit any monastery they wish. The monasteries uphold a long tradition of hospitality for those who need Mount Athos, those who seek solace, relief from the troubles of the outside world or those who are on a pilgrimage. Food and a bed to sleep are provided entirely free, although the conditions are basic and visitors are expected to conduct themselves according to certain standards. Much of the travelling is done either by boat or on foot for the roads are narrow and winding dirt-tracks.

Hilandar Monastery

Hilandar Monastery is the northern most monastery located on the northeast side of the Athos Peninsula in northern Greece. The monastery was founded in 1198 by Ss. Sava and Simeon. The Monastery has been supported and populated by Serbian monks since then. It is ranked fourth in the hierarchical order of the twenty monasteries located on the Mount Athos peninsula.Throughout history, Hilandar was magnanimously supported by all the Serbian rulers, noblemen and the whole Orthodox world. In the 13th century, King Milutin built a new church of the Assumption, and Prince Lazar was the ktetor of its exonarthex. Like all other Mount Athos monasteries, Hilandar was built as a fortified monastery – with tall walls and defensive towers (pyrgos). The place saw numerous pirate attacks. In the Turkish times, Hilandar was looted and endangered, and was reduced to poverty; in later centuries Serbs even lost it several times.
Hilandar keeps some of the most valuable icons of the Orthodox world – the icon of theTheotokos “Of the Three Hands,”, which St Sava brought from the Holy Land, a mosaic of theVirgin Hodegetria from the 12th century, the icon of the Christ Pantocrator (Ruler of all) from the first half of the 14th century and many others.