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Mount Athos facts for kids

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Mont Athos 3D version 1
A 3D model of Athos
Karta Athos
Map of Mount Athos

Mount Athos is a mountain in the Greek province of Macedonia. It is also commonly used to refer to the Self-governed Monastic State of the Holy Mountain, which is an autonomous part of Greece. There are twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries inside this state.

Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The peninsula is the easternmost "leg" of the larger Halkidiki peninsula. It protrudes into the Aegean Sea for some 60 kilometres (37 mi) at a width between 7 to 12 km and covers an area of 335.637 square kilometres (129.59 sq mi), with the actual Mount Athos and its steep, densely forested slopes reaching up to 2,033 metres (6,670 ft). The seas around the end of the peninsula can be dangerous.

The peninsula is only accessible by boat. There is a limit on the number of visitors. People visiting need to get a special permit. Only men are allowed to enter. Monks call Mount Athos the "Garden of the Virgin"-. Orthodox Christians take precedence in the permit issuing procedure. Only males over the age of 18 who are members of an Eastern Orthodox Church are allowed to live on Athos (?). A large number of Albanian Muslims work in the Holy Mountain. There is a small number of unarmed, religious guards (Σερδάρηδες), who are not monks, for keeping order. Police and Coast Guard presence is very discreet. Any other people not monks are required to live in the peninsula's capital, Karyes (?) Most workers live at the place where they work. Small low class hotels exist at Karyes (administrative center) and Dafni (main port). The 2001 Greek national census recorded a population of 2,262 inhabitants.

Images for kids

  • Athos2

    A Byzantine watch tower, protecting the "arsanas" (αρσανάς, =dock) of Xeropotamou monastery

  • Athanasios

    Athanasios the Athonite

  • Vatopedi 2

    View of the area around Vatopedi monastery

  • Mount Athos by cod gabriel 36

    Agiou Panteleimonos monastery, traditional home of Russian monks, was the main theater of the Imiaslavie dogmatic controversy during the early 20th century

  • Diamonitirion 1978

    Diamonētērion of 1978

  • Athos grenze frangokastro 01

    Sign at entrance to Mount Athos

  • Jesus in Golgotha by Theophanes the Cretan

    Jesus in Golgotha by Theophanes the Cretan, Stavronikita monastery

  • Vatopedion

    Decorated wall of the Catholicon, Vatopedi monastery

  • Saint Mercurius and Artemius of Antioch

    A fresco with Saint Mercurius and Artemius of Antioch

  • Pantokrator 13cent

    An icon of Jesus, Hilandar monastery

  • Mount Athos- Nea Skiti

    View of Nea Skiti

  • Mount Athos111

    Aerial photo from the north

  • Mount Athos (7698222302)

    Mount Athos seen from the sea

  • Mount Athos

    View of Athos from Sartri

  • Karyes

    Walking on the street of Karyes; Mount Athos is notable for its lack of motorized traffic

  • IMG 1552-20070425-great-lavra-a

    Cypress of Athanasius the Athonite, Megistis Lavras Monastery

  • Prodromos-2

    The church of the Romanian skete "Prodromos"

  • Saint Demetrius of Protat

    A fresco of Saint Demetrius

  • Megistis Lavras

    Courtyard of Megistis Lavras Monastery and the Phiale

  • Stavronikita 2

    Interior and Roman aqueduct of Stavronikita Monastery

  • Vatopedi 4

    Phiale of Vatopedi

  • Iviron

    Refectory of Iviron Monastery

  • Philotheou

    Courtyard of Philotheou Monastery

  • IMG 1281-20070424-koutloumousiou-monastery-a

    Courtyard detail of Koutloumousiou monastery

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