The atmosphere is heady. Monks recite ancient liturgies and
inhabit ancient monasteries recently partly-restored through
EU grants. The flora and fauna are considered among the
most pristine in Europe. During one sylvan walk I suddenly
felt I had stepped into a page from a Byzantine manuscript.
The views are transcendent. To follow the steep winding road
high above the Aegean and to see Simonos Petra, a monastery perched atop a huge stone pinnacle with magnificent Mt.
Athos lurking behind on the other side of a towering hill, is to
behold one of the most beautiful sights in the world.
There Father Iakovos showed us relics of saints who gave their
lives so that the culture and the faith that these monasteries
represent could live on in perpetuity. The sheer natural beauty
of the place creates an aura of spirituality. From a precarious
wooden balcony hundreds of feet above the sea, we saw a large
school of dolphins making waves.
We spent three nights on Mount Athos, one each at Xenophontos, Great Lavra and Karakalou monasteries. Each community was a welcoming enclave. We lived in modest chambers and ate wholesome, home-grown food in silence with
the monks while one monk read aloud from Holy Scripture.
We attended services, visited the treasuries and came to know
some members of the community.
We were the only pilgrims on the small launch from Ouranoupolis deposited at Xenophontos Monastery. Moving slowly
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