Mount Athos (2011)

  • View of Mt. Athos from the Xenofontos monastery in the evening
  • View of Mt. Athos from water
  • View of Mt. Athos from the boat
  • Feeding segals
  • Segals, with the last "civic" port of Ouranopolis staying behind
  • Children at Xenofontos monastery
  • From the boat going home
  • One of the last small monasteries, going home
  • Courtyard in Doheariu monastery
  • View of Grigoriu monastery. It looks so nice, but by that moment I was completely wet, walking there with my backpack in the heat
  • Grigoriu in the evening
  • The famous grapevine of the Serbian Hilandar monastery. It has been growing for 800 years from under the church, more precisely from under the tomb of St. Simeon, who before becoming a monk was the king Stefan Nemanja, founder of the Serbian medieval state and of its ruling dynasty. This one grapevine gives grapes of four different sorts.
  • Vineyards in Hilandar. Hilandar monastery makes a lot of wine. In fact, since the monastry recently had a horrible fire, they need to rebuild a lot. So they need money, and they begin to export their wine even to the States.
  • Iveron monastery
  • Conversation with Elder Vasileos at Iveron (at far window on the right). Unfortunately most of it was in Greek, so it was difficult to pay attention...
  • Trapeznaya at Iveron
  • Typical Athonite trail through a typical Athonite olive grove. I am walking from Xenofontos to Doheariu
  • Many monasteries have their own little ports
  • Another port. Towers were usually built against pirates
  • Simonopetra is one of the most amazing monasteries on the Holy mountain. For starters, it is build on a sheer rock, high over the sea. These balconies are truly scary...
  • View from balcony down, it IS scary... And the fall will be long...
  • Simonopetra in the evening with Mt. Athos on the backgound---you can spot those balconies...
  • In the Simonopetra library. The guide is an American monk and a former Harvard Professor... he was in that NBC 60 minutes film
  • Simonopetra high up, and its port by the sea. I had to climb up there with a backpack! Right below the monastery you can spot some terraces---this is their garden. They grow everything. Especially tasty are tomatos, and olives everywhere on Mt. Athos are just fantastic. And also bread. All monastreries have different bread. In Hilandar I could not break a peace of freshly made bread with my two hands, very chewy and very tasty. Their recipies probably did not change in a thousand years. They also catch a lot of fish, octopus, etc. Octopus everywhere in Greece is amazingly done, really tender and very tasty!
  • Another view of Simonopetra, yeah, that climb under the sun was something...
  • Close-up
  • I am making serious progress, reached the gardens!
  • Inside the monastery
  • Evening. Mt. Athos evenings are unforgettable
  • No, I am not scared, really
  • Trapeznaya at Simonopetra
  • Another view from Simonopetra
  • The Russian monastery St. Panteleimon
  • Garden at Vatopediu
  • Vatopediu monastery is one of the largest
  • Outside the gates of Vatopediu
  • Balconies at Xenofontos monastery in the evening
  • My bed at Xenofontos is actually in one of those balconies, it "hangs in the air"
  • Courtyard at Xenofontos
  • Xenofontos and crab net
  • Xenofonstos in the evening
  • From a balcony at Xenofontos
  • Gardens of Xenofontos are right by the sea
  • The church at Xenofontos
  • Scene by the sea
  • Fish net
  • Last evening on Mt. Athos, Xenofontos monastery
  • Leaving by boat

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