Mount Athos is simply one of the most beautiful places on

earth, more like a fantasy than what we know of as reality.

Enormous monasteries, like castles or fortresses dot the
coast and appear on the mountain slopes with every bend in
the road. There are caves that still house hermits as they
have for thousands of years and many simple houses or
kelions that have several monks in each and a small church.
There are churches with more gold than some countries
have in their vaults and icons that perform miracles. There
are virgin forests and animals that are found nowhere but
the Holy Mountain. There are monks from every country in
the Orthodox world and even some from non-orthodox
countries. The seashore is perhaps the most beautiful in the
Aegean, pristine and rarely used for swimming since monks
don't generally go to the beach. There are incredible
gardens cared for with a love of nature and of God. For
spiritual seekers Athos has the appearance of heaven on
earth. Of course being a monk is not all honey and roses.
It's a hard life. But it's a fantastic place to visit if you are the
right type: male, spiritual in nature, respectful of tradition
and adventurous.