Mount Athos, Greece a journey to the Holy Mountain
Eagles Palace Hotel, Ouranoupolis, Halkidiki, Greece
www.eaglespalace.gr
Mount Athos – www.mountathosinfos.gr
The last all male bastion in the world, so as such it seemed only right that Gentlemans Butler explored further.
I recently returned to Greece for the 10th time.
You will not be surprised to hear it is a country I adore due to its beauty, nature, culture, hospitality, wonderful fresh food and studying classical studies at school certainly gave me an added interest.
I was particularly pleased as my visit was to Halkidiki, a place I had been wanting to visit for many years. In addition I visited at the beginning of October, so would experience the region in the Autumn. Situated a couple of hours drive from Thessaloniki in the north of Greece we stayed at the beautiful Eagle Palace Hotel, a 5 star luxury hotel that is reassuringly Greek and not all glass and steal.
I and another English journalist were lucky enough to have been invited for an overnight stay to Mount Athos, a short boat ride away.
I cannot under estimate how privileged a position it is for a journalist to be invited.
If you watch this CBS documentary [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mXl8C4-M_4[/youtube] you will understand what a rarity it is.
Mount Athos the orthodox spiritual heart since 1054, with an autonomous statute since Byzantine times. Forbidden to women and children, a recognized artistic site, houses about 20 monasteries presently inhabited by some 2,000 monks with influence as far afield as Russia.
I believe the normal time allowance for a pilgrim to get their visa is 6 months, it took CBS 2 years to be allowed in to film and I believe they organised our visa in around 6 weeks.
With a ruck sack and a very small amount of information we headed into the unknown. Personally I have travelled to many unique places but as we sat in our luxury surroundings the night before I could feel some trepidation. A variety of specific pieces of information were handed to us, we conversed and headed to bed.
The next morning we woke early to an overcast and misty Greek morning, something of a first for me, and after breakfast we travelled the short distance to the small Greek harbour village of Ouranoupolis to catch a boat. As we queued for our passports you could tell this was something a little different, firstly one felt like one was in Russia for a moment, due to all the dialects one could hear and secondly we were obviously the only Brits there, and probably the only English speaking people. For me this all added to my James Bond intrigue… 00 Michael knew all about espionage and survival (well I had my mobile phone with me and some chocolate, so off to a good start)
Onto our boat we headed, our guides leaving us to fend for ourselves, we headed into the unknown with a couple of clues …..we were to meet a man in a café at the harbour arrival.
ROGER THAT I said…..
Our boat was not filled with my usually luxury trappings, silk cushions, roses, champagne and the like but reminded me of a boat heading off to somewhere far far away, probably to start some hard labour. People looked serious and intense. I should say I genuinely did not know what to expect but thought I was going to a place where I would get very little sleep, probably on a wooden floor, and spend the next 36 hours learning and contemplating, in a way like going on a retreat, something I remember my mother going to many years before.
As the boat made its way along the coast we stopped in at a couple of Monasteries
and then arrived at the harbour port of Daphne. A rather beautiful little port, with I think 1 café, 2 shops and customs.
Off we hopped and headed to the café, which was fairly empty at this stage to wait. An imposing gentleman sat in the corner, whilst a young Greek guy in his twenties, with a logoed t shirt came over to ask what we wanted to order, obviously in perfect English.
Well we had no money on us (too complicated to explain) and understandably their reaction was ??? The following conversation really should have been part of a sketch show but went something like ……we were told …… no shops …..we did not bring money ……they looked at us like ???? ….they expanded along the lines of what planet do you think we are in ……. After which the imposing man in the corner bought us coffee and water on the house …. Definitely an interesting start and much appreciated.
Then our guide Margarides arrived, just about the point where we were thinking mmm are we in the right place ….friendly chap, in a green tshirt and driving a great dusty 4×4 …..
Our adventure was now in full flow…..
Up the windy hill we headed and were now discovering why a 4×4 was needed as these were predominately dirt tracks……wonderful “should I book a bulk session with my chiropractor now” I thought, but about 10 minutes up the mountain I asked to stop. By now the sun had returned, the peace and quiet was beautiful and looking down to the ocean, I reminded myself what a stunning country Greece is, and a place so suited to its history of culture, religion and poetry.
Further up the mountain we travelled learning about the history, the no meat …the no women ….. but we could talk the international language of football ….
…… A World Heritage Site and autonomous polity in the Hellenic Republic under the official name. Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain Police, Mount Athos is home to 20 stauropegial Eastern Orthodox Monasteries……………….
…….. Mount Athos has been inhabited since the ancient times and is known for its nearly 1,800-year continuous. Christian presence and its long historical monastic traditions, which date back to at least 800 A.D. and the Byzantine era. Today, over 2,000 monks from Greece and many other Eastern Orthodox countries, such as Bulgaria, Serbia and Russia, live there.
……. The Athonite monasteries feature a rich collection of well-preserved artifacts, rare books, ancient documents, and artworks of immense historical value.
……. The free movement of people and goods in its territory is prohibited, unless formal permission is granted by the Monastic State’s authorities.
Then up to Karyes, the clerical centre situated in the middle and high up in the walnut forests. In the 2001 census it housed 233 people.
I was starting to get the feel I was on the set of some major Hollywood epic with amazing buildings and scenery but very few people. Well coming to Karyes was like entering Vegas…as there were people, conversation, a shop or 2, a bus and a telephone box. As our host wandered around chatting to locals, we stopped at a shop and were given local Raki and it was not even lunch. This was going to be the first of several that day.
Back into our 4×4 we headed to
to The Skete of Saint Andrew a huge building complex that follows the architectural paradigm of the Athonian monasteries. It is called a skete because according to the customs and the Mount Athos statute it is not possible to found new monasteries, besides the one of the Byzantine era.
It was built with the financial sponsorship of the Russian Czars and many Russian monks practiced ascetic life here.
Today five Greek monks reside here and have taken upon them to revive the skete and deal with the preservation of the icons and the maintenance of the premises.
From here we drove to the Iviron Monastery
Ranked third in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries Iviron is located on the northeastern side of Athos peninsula on a small cove, next to the estuary of a big torrent. Founded in the 8th century as Clement’s monastery.
There was a wonderful piece, and by chance we were lucky enough to be there when a monk and his novice (in his fifties I would say and someone who had lived there for several years already) were having lunch. Beautiful fresh food, with 2 glasses of red wine. I wanted to take a picture as the scene was genuinely magical, but was politely refused… we discussed FOOTBALL (of course) Youtube and if you had recorded the conversation it could have been in any café around the world.
They showed us the winery with barrels some of which were 800 years old.
From here we winded along the coast to our final stop
The Holy Cell of St. Efstathios, where we would be staying.
Immediately one noticed the silence, which was magical. The sound of the sea a few feet away, no machinery, radio or shouting. I could feel my stress levels vanishing.
We sat outside, father came out to great us,
had some ouzo and turkish delight, and shortly after he showed us his tiny chapel, looking out high above the sea.
Though no animals they do have cats, and lots of little kittens.
The view was perfect for writing poetry and painting, something I discussed with father.
My colleague and I were to be honest a little lost, though in a good way. After being taken to our room we returned to their kitchen to chat whilst Margarides prepared lunch, again fantastically simple but beautiful.
By this point we were at seriously chilled out speed.
The afternoon was time for a wander, to see the winery
and later the Raki being made.
The evening again experienced fantastic fresh food, and as the wind whistled gently outside, as I felt I was on a ship. By this time the table was filled with 6 of us.
All men from different corners of the world, conversation flowed…..!!
A good sleep and the next morning we were taken up the mountain to Karyes where we caught the bus. Shrouded in mist, catching the bus was an adventure and certainly I had my fingers crossed. Finally the port of Daphne was in sight.
After waiting an internal length of time, and several bureaucratic conversations relating to queues, paperwork and the like we caught the largest and slowest ship home. But heh the sun was out, so 2 guys sat on the top deck in the sun, heading home.
In many ways I felt I had been in exile, predominately due to some travel muck ups which happen when one properly travels. Yes I loved returning to my 5 star hotel to have my chicken club sandwich and coke (clichéd I know) but the memories of my 36 hours will stay with me forever, our discussions about simplicity, priorities in life, their amazing food and understanding what a pampered but also sometimes over sanitised life we live in our everyday lives.
I am a believer, but I think whatever your views you would be hard pressed not to be moved.
I would avoid the very long ferry and also take money (amazing advice I know!) but if you get the chance grab it, stop, breath and unwind.
THE END…