A few words for Mount Athos

Mount Athos is the oldest surviving monastic community in the world. A World Heritage Site and self-governed state (by its own local administration, although part of Greece), Athos is home to 20 stavropegial Eastern Orthodox monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople. Greeks commonly refer to Mount Athos as the "Agion Oros" (Holy Mountain).  It occupies the best part of the Athos peninsula in Halkidiki (North Greece).
The peninsula, the easternmost "leg" of the larger Halkidiki peninsula, protrudes 31 miles into the Aegean Sea at a width of between 4.3 and 7.5 miles and covers an area of 129.59 square miles. The actual Mount Athos has steep, densely forested slopes reaching up to 6,670 ft.Though land-linked, Mount Athos is practically accessible only by boat. This why Mount Athos has remained one of the most unspoiled parts of Greece, a place of extraordinary natural beauty.

There is a prohibition on entry for women, called avaton in Greek, to make living in celibacy easier for those who have chosen to do so. Monks feel that the presence of women alters the social dynamics of the community and therefore slows their path towards spiritual enlightenment.

Historical documents on ancient Mount Athos history are very few. It is certain that monks have been there since the 4th century, and possibly since the 3rd.

The Athonian monasteries possess huge deposits of invaluable medieval art treasures, including icons, liturgical vestments and objects (crosses, chalices), codices and other Christian texts, imperial chrysobulls, holy relics etc. Until recently no organized study and archiving had been carried out, but an EU-funded effort to catalogue, protect and restore them is under way since the late 1980s. Their sheer number is such, it is estimated that several decades will pass before the work is completed. Among the most ancient and priceless codices at Mount Athos are the Codex Athous Lavrensis and the Codex Athous Dionysiou.