God Spots part 2 - Mt Athos

You may recall a blog I wrote last year called 'God Spots'. I was commenting on the Greek proclivity to build churches and chapels in high and inaccessible places, which I termed 'God Spots'. Like Mount Olympus, home to the pantheon of ancient Greek gods, maybe Greeks believe that God dwells in high inaccessible places, or that these places are 'closer to heaven'.  Just recently, we have sailed around the mother of all God Spots, this is Mount Athos. This blog describes our trip.

Our journey around the North Aegean

The mud map above shows our trip so far, from the islands of Limnos, Samothraki and Thassos, to the mainland coast at Kevala. From Kevala, we headed to a jumping off point before we circumnavigated the Mt Athos peninsula. This was the dusty little fishing port of Ieressos.

Fishing port of Ieressos

Our new neighbours, raucous gulls waiting for a feed.

Winter layup site on the beach

Beachside get-away, or local poverty?

Boats are hauled out on the beach using manual windlasses.

There was nothing to keep us in Ieressos, so we set off around the peninsula. Its about 60 nautical miles to the next anchorage, and due to the height of Mt Athos, treacherous gusts can blow off the mountain. This meant that we had to stand off the coast by a few miles just to be prudent. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any close up shots of the monasteries, so you'll have to peer at the following shots to get an idea.

View of the peninsula from Ieressos

The first of the monasteries

More monasteries

Megan on watch

Wikipedia tells us that Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Greece, part of the Khalkidhiki.
 A World Heritage Site and autonomous polity in the Hellenic Republic, Athos is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople. Today Greeks commonly refer to Mount Athos as the 'Holy Mountain'.

Large monastery group on the flank of the mountain

The tip of the peninsula

Cloud obscuring the mountain

Megan off watch!

Although land-linked, the peninsula is practically accessible only by ferry and only as weather conditions permit. The number of visitors to the peninsula is strictly limited to 100 at any one time, with only 10 of those allowed to be foreigners. Entry is limited to males only, the criteria used to be 'bearded males' (i.e. no children allowed). Residents on the peninsula must be males over 18 years old, who are members of the Eastern Orthodox church.

Mountainous terrain, spot the hermitages

One lonely tower

Monasteries and hermitages

A view of the cloud shrouded Mount Athos

Interesting ancient monastery

Closest we got to the coast - note similarity to Lhasa.

Mount Athos, 2035m high.

Athos in Greek mythology is the name of a giant who challenged the Greek Gods. Athos threw a massive rock at Poseidon. It landed in the Aegean and became Mt Athos. The peninsula was on the invasion route of Xerxes I who spent 3 years digging a canal across the peninsula near Ieressos, to allow the passage of the invasion fleet in 483 BC.

Conveys the steep inhospitable terrain

View of the mountain from the south

Another monastery

Leaving the peninsula

In Christian times, according to the athonite tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was sailing accompanied by St John the Evangelist from Joppa to Cyprus to visit Lazarus. When the ship was blown off course to then pagan Athos it was forced to anchor. The Virgin walked ashore and, overwhelmed by the wonderful and wild natural beauty of the mountain, she blessed it and asked her Son for it to be her garden. A voice was heard saying "Let this place be your inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for those seeking to be saved". From that moment the mountain was consecrated as the garden of the Mother of God and was out of bounds to all other women. Although the early history is uncertain, it appears that monastic communities have been inhabiting Mt Athos since the 3rd century.

Anchorage at Sikia

Small beach resort off our anchorage at Sikia.

Having been suitably awe inspired by the size and sheer wilderness of the mountain, and the monasteries set into seemingly inaccessible locations, we sailed across the bay between the two pensinulas to a small haven at Sikea. Unable to set the anchor in thick weed, we took advantage of a mooring ball outside a small beach resort. Next, we're off down the bay to meet some larrikin Australians at Dhiaporos!