Athos Agion Oros

1000 - Post number 1000! Dear friends,

The idea of this weblog started with the preparations of our visit to Athos May 2007. At first we started writing in Dutch, but soon we got the hang of it and were aiming at a wider audience by using the English language. To our surprise the audience come from all over the world: people from the US, UK, Greece of course but also visitors from countries which we did not expect such as Japan, United Arab Emirates and Brazil (in total 2009: 121 countries!). In time we bought more books about the Holy Mountain and our knowledge grew.
A handicap is that we can't understand the Greek language. Our intitiative had a follower in Keliotes/Giannis, who had already a nice Athos-website in Greek, but also discovered that the blog is a nice tool to tell the story of this beautifull place. We still are using his posts - using Google translate - and he does the same with some of our small discoveries. Not only we got more pageviews, but visitors started to make comments and began to inform us about Athos related stuff. We like to thank them in particular, because this interaction and feedback stimulated us very much. In September 2009 we again visited the Mountain. Wim for the 6th time and Herman for the 4th time. Accompanied by 5 good friends we had a wonderful time especially in Mylopotamos, which we shall show you in the coming months. We are not done yet. Already there are plans for another trip in 2011 and there are still stories we want to tell. We hope that you will keep on visiting this blog and give your reactions, comments and tips. Many thanks for that. This is a good opportunity to ask a couple of questions which we are curious about.
- What will be the effect of the economical and financial crisis in Greece at the moment for Mount Athos?
- Does anybody know if this weblog has followers on the Holy Mountain itself?
Wim and Herman Voogd, Amsterdam/Haarlem, The Netherlands

Wim having breakfast with father Joachim at Mylopotamos, 27 Sept. 2009

Herman on the path from Sografou to Konstamonitou. Sept 2009 (photo by B. Kamps)

Wim in our room at Mylopotamos, checking the route for the next day, 26 Sept. 2009

Herman on the beach of Ouranopolis, 25 Sept. 2009

993 - 2009 Trip to Athos: Karyes and Skiti Andreou day 1 - 14

After arriving on the main road to Karyes soon the panorama of the the small capital appears. The camera point in South East direction. Behind the large building with the rusted roof lies the Protaton church and in the background on the right the monastery Iviron.

An overall view of the "city", with the ugly roof still protecting the Protaton.

North East part of Karyes with Skiti Andreou on the background

Skiti Andreou

Signs near Andreou

Skiti Andreou - a new shining "bling-bling" tower is about the be finshed. Apparently there lives a monk who is fond of satelite television..........

Karyes - a newly renovated house a shop for farmers with agricultural machines

Look how different the same place is in wintertime!

Karyes - an empty main street

Karyes - main street with snow/January 2010

Karyes - The building of the Holy Epistatia, the oldest democratic elected gouvernment of Europe

Wim Voogd, 9/2

986 - Athos on Google Earth / Community Walk

This map shows you the most important buildings on the Holy Mountain and might help you get around. Beware, Google Earth and Panaramio isn't that acurate with positioning places and pictures, so you better look here (also see Links: "Map of Athos on Google Earth").

I made some improvements and added pictures to the places I did see until now. The blue path shows you the route of Wim's group in 2009.
Wim, 23/1

982 - postcards of Skiti Andreou - Serail

Today I found this postcard of Skiti Andreou without the church, that was used for the first time on June 16th 1900.

On the back of this postcard it says 1917, but this picture must have been taken long before 1900, because there are no signs of building activities, except for ones on the left, outside the complex.
The foundation stone of the largest church of the Balkan is laid in 1867.

In 1841 the Serail just was a small cell with a handfull of monks, belonging to Vatopediou. Giannis send me a picture from 1860 of this original cell called Ag. Antoniou (see his weblog nr 281). The picture is made by a Russian archeographer and collectioner P.I. Sevastianov, who came to pay visit in 1852, just after the invention of photography, and who held workshops in Skiti Andreou.

The cell is situated where the red arrow is pointing:

Early 20th century postcard.

Serail - lithograph from around 1900
(also see 491)
Wim, 19/1

795 - Skiti Magoula

While watching this video on You Tube I was surprized to see this large building (1.40 min.) , that I never saw before.
The pictures are of poor quality, but I could not find any others in my library or the internet.

According to this text about the life of St Gregory of Sinai the Skiti is now a ruin.
From Crete Saint Gregory moved on to Mount Athos, probably around 1300, when he would have been about 35. He did not enroll in one of the great ruling monasteries, but in a remote skete, named Magoula, the ruins of which can still be seen about a half-hour's walk eastward from the modern ruling monastery, Philotheou. Not much is left of Magoula, but again the ruins bear powerfully upon any who are devoted to Saint Gregory.

The building is situated here:

Who knows more about this Skete ?
Wim, 10/5

778 - Sk. Ag. Annis

1997

1997 Guestmonk.

Breakfast 1997

Your webmaster (hv) in Sk. Annis in 1997. In the background the Sithonia peninsula.
hv

771 - the modern Athonite Academy: Athonias

Vasilis showed us this website of the modern Athonite Academy near Skiti Andreou, here are two pictures of their home-page:

The first Athonite Academy was on a hill-top near Vatopediou and survived only a few decades in the 18th and 19th century. Only ruins remain (also see here and here).

Wim, 16/4

754 - Weblog by Tomasito

A daily weblog of a pilgrimage with nice drawings.
People from Catalunya (Spain) also reporting from the Muntanya Santa in this weblog.
hv

719 - 1927

hv

683 - Stained glass of Prodromou by Bubbus

More of this Rumenian photographer on Flickr.
hv

641 - Stained glass

Church Skete Prodromou

Church Thessaloniki
Foto's by H.Voogd

unknown photographer
hv

635 - Skete Prof. Eliou

The Russian Skete before the central church was build.

With church build between 1899 and 1914. Foto from keliotes website.

Journalist Dave G. Houser writes about his recent visit to Athos especially about Skete. Prof. Eliou:
Brother Job invites Aris and me to stay at Prophet Elias and, obliging, we hike along behind Job on his tractor, towing a much-relieved monk up through scrubby hillsides covered with patches of gardens and vines. I spot tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, corn, peas, beans and artichokes. There are apricot and olive trees and grapes.

The high-domed monasteries of Mount Athos are, for the most part, true architectural gems. Fine brickwork was Byzantium's calling, and it is evident everywhere.

Built by Russians in the 18th century, Prophet Elias is relatively new to Mount Athos, but it is a splendid example of the traditional arch-and-dome Byzantine style. It was built to accommodate almost a hundred monks, but during Soviet times in Russia, so few monks came to Prophet Elias that it faced abandonment. Then a small group of monks from upstate New York came to Athos to rescue the skete.

''It is good that we could come and help preserve this wonderful space,'' says Job, the only resident of the skete now willing to talk to me ''on the record,'' since word is out that I'm a journalist, ``and, as you can see, it is like heaven on Earth here."

That's hardly an overstatement. With its bountiful orchards and gardens, its winery, olive mill and old stone bakery, Prophet Elias could pass for a rustic Tuscany estate -- the kind you can rent for $5,000 a week. But it costs us nothing to stay here.

This is what happened in 1992 in the Skete where at that moment a few old Russian monks were living:

A delegation of greek monks, police, members of the Epistasia and others came to the skete and asked the Russian leader of the skete, Fr. Serafim if the patriarch was commemorated in the skete church services. When Fr. Serafim said no, all the residents were expelled. They were given a few minutes to gather their essential belongings before being transported by jeep and police speedboat to Ouranoupolis. A week later greek monks from Xenophontos Skete of the Annunciation moved in and from that time this Skete erected in 1763 by Russians was Greek.
There was a lot to do about this affair: in court but also protest from Greek newspapers and some Athonite monks. (source: Nicholas Fennel, The Russians on Athos)

Foto by Wim Voogd 2007
hv

516 - old pictures of the Serail or Skiti Andreou

A drawing of the church of the Serail after its opening on june 16th 1867 by Tsar Alexander II Alexandrovitch.

and a "air-view" lithograph of Skiti Andreou (about 1900):

And here a historical picture of the Serail on 5th of july 1905 (Feast of Athanasius): in front of the trapeza numerous monks sit in the courtyard and have their meal in the open air.

60 years later this sad picture is taken: the last surviving monk in the summer of 1965. Soon after he died and the Serail was handed over to Vatopediou, the owner of the land of Skiti Andreou.

This picture is from september 2th 1908, with the Archimandrite Seraphim of the Serail. At that moment the power of this settlement was at its height. The picture is made by the "house-photographer" of the Skiti.

Is this person maybe the same as the one who was burried in courtyard, as shown in post 515 ?
All pictures are from the book: Athos - Vorhölle zum Paradies / Erich Feigl - Michael Epp (photographer), Paul Zsolnay Verlag - Wien Hamburg 1982 ISBN 3-552-03400-5. Many thanks to them.
Wim, 16 july

515 - A trip to Athos (day 3 nr 4)

On previous trips to Athos I passed Skiti Andreou several times, but I never had the change to have a look inside. The first time in 1980 it looked so deserted and uninhabited, that I did not have the nerve to go and have a look. On a next visit it showed out that I didn’t have enough time to pay a visit and 11 years ago it was clear that somebody at least started renovating the building, because then I saw a large collection of bronze bells lying in front of the entrance. But again I did not have a look inside the complex. So in 2007 - at last - I got the opportunity to visit this large Russian Skiti.

After passing the parking in Karyes you will soon see (after 500 m.) the immense buildings, nowadays surrounded by scaffoldings and a lot of workman, who are busy renovating the church and large parts of the Skiti.

In the entrance building there is a little shop. Here you see a monk who just sold a carved wooden icon of Jezus for € 50,00, so I can imagine he lookes happy!

The biggest church in the Balkan is renovated completely and painted over in white, according to the Russian style of decorating of the interior.

The guesthouses are open again, but I could’t make out if everybody could use them or that only (Russian or orthodox) pilgrims were allowed to sleep here. As later showed out during our visit to Skiti Prof. Eliou not everybody could enjoy the hospitality (later more about this Skiti).

In front of the church you will find a grave of abbot (?).

Not the whole complex is renovated yet: some 15 years ago you could still see buildings standing in this part of the Skiti, ans this is how it looks now:

The bells that 10 years ago were lying outside the gate are now moved to the courtyard. I was wondering if one of these bells could be the one I saw in the deserted Ukraine building near Skiti Provata ? (see post nr 187, 188, 192) - An adventure on the Holy Mountain part I, II an III).

Back in Karyes I saw three young monks, who had the time of their life by doing some intensive “religious” shopping.

and I will finish this post with two black and white pictures from Karyes, main square,

and with old buildings in decay:

Wim Voogd, 15 juli

491 - Sk. Ag. Andreou

Again the beautifull photo by A. Smaragdis.

Early 20th century postcard.
hv

486 - Garden

From the garden of the Theophileon Brotherhood at the skete of St. Anna by Trevino. August 2007.

hv

386 - Food: Bread

Bakery Sk. Prodromou may 2007

This young friendly Rumanian monk gave us large slices of fresh bread which we ate during the climb of the mountain.

Another bakery on the mountain. I do not know the location.
hv

358 - Skiti Agiou Annis

In 1986 I walked from Lavra and to Skiti Annis:

The monk was very hospitable and he allowed me to take pictures in his church.

Here are some images of the interiour:

The unique icon of Ag. Anna, bearing her daugther Maria: Kyriakon Ag. Annis

And some more images of fresco's and icons:

When you sit in front of the church in the afternoon it is totaly quiet. No sounds are heard, except for the singing of birds and monks. But, the quiet scene was disturbed by a boat passing by. The spoken words whitch came out of the loudspeakers could easily be heard on the Holy Mountain. It was annoying: it brougth us back to the "real" world ..............

Wim 16/2

317 - Prof. Eliou of Bogoroditsa?

Prof. Eliou (without the church)

297 - Kavsokalivia

Again a film (see also nr. 295) this time shot in the skiti of Kavsokalivia. The monk on this video is explaining a lot and shows a kind of cave. Maybe one of our greek visitors could help us telling what the story behind this cave is ? Feel free to react, click on "reageer".
These kind of videos are rare and pretty special because it is officially not allowed to film on the holy mountain.
hv

217 - Avalanche Skiti Ag. Annis

When we visited Ag. Annis in 1986 a large stone avalanche blocked our path totally and it seemes as if it just had come down. After we managed to reach the other side of the heep of crumbled stones we could hardly find our path again.

On the right the "fresh"avalanche - 1986

Wim 10/10

173 - Nea Skiti (Theotokou)

2007
Coming from the summit of Mount Athos on our way to the monastery of Pavlou I took this picture of the New Skete. We started our trip in Kavsokalivia. At this point we walked eleven hours. See also post nr. 85.
HV

115 - Brood

De sympatiekste monnik die we ontmoetten was deze jonge Roemeen van Skiti Prodromou die verantwoordelijk was voor het bakken van het brood. Hij sneed de kapjes van de broden en ieder van ons kreeg een flinke homp. Op de berg zelf hebben we er nog flink van gegeten. HV