The Idiot surprised a Greek Orthodox monk in northern California this week when he mentioned that during his 20-year walk around the Mediterranean Sea he had hiked through Mount Athos, the 45-kilometer long peninsula with a 2,027-meter high Holy Mountain that is the center of monasticism for the Orthodox Church. The monk wanted photographic proof and here’s what The Idiot showed him.
One of twenty Holy Mountain Monasteries.
Two of 1,753 Mount Athos Monks.
The Idiot, himself a peripatetic monk who was the only pilgrim wearing all-white cotton garb to monastic meals on Mount Athos, spoke to dozens of monks from throughout the world as he climbed to the top of Mount Athos and MedTrekked over one hundred kilometers in the heavily-forested male-only sanctuary. Like other visitors, he obtained a special permit and paid thirty euros to enter the Holy Mountain and be housed, fed by and pray with charitable monks at mostly welcoming monasteries for four nights.
Peripatetic but no shorts allowed.
The Idiot told the Californian monk that it’s a safe bet that all of the building and improvements during his visit in 2010 ensured that Mount Athos will be around for another thousand years. There were cranes, scaffolding, earth-moving equipment, dock enlargements, new roads and teams of Albanian, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and other imported workers everywhere. There may never again be 30,000 monks at thirty monasteries, as there were in the 1500s, but growth was so rampant that Mount Athos looked like the beneficiary of the Obama Stimulus Package, European Union funds, Greek government allocations and hefty charitable donations combined.
The Holy Mountain is certainly in better shape today, The Idiot told the monk, than at the end of its first millennium in 1963 when there were only 700 monks and there was sacrilegious chatter in Athens about turning the monasteries, many which were in complete ruin, into luxury hotels.
A crane, some scaffolding and a new bell tower.
This is not a luxury hotel.
Monks building a stone wall invited The Idiot to a quick lunch (food is sustenance here, not pleasure) of bread, olives and moustalevria, a fabulous bio grape must pudding. As they ate they told “before being a monk” stories (one was a Metallica fan, one once knew a girl at UCLA), asked typical questions of the pilgrim and made some pertinent observations.
“Are you Orthodox?” “Where are you from?” “Are you baptized?” “Have you experienced the Miracle yet?” “Who pays you to walk?” “You need new shoes!” “I don’t want to be pushy but Orthodoxy is the only way.” “Have you been to the Orthodox monastery in Platina, CA?” “I’m weak but if you walk for me I’ll pray for you.”
Younger monks building a stone wall.
Fresco in one of a score of hermitages on Mount Athos.
Incidentally, if you want to hit it off with any Greek tell them you’re going to Mount Athos and will pray for them. And while there are still occasional protestations, no one expects females (except cats) to ever be allowed on Mount Athos.
The Idiot took the absence of women in stride but constantly remarked on the lack of sheep, goats, chickens and other domesticated animals. That’s because, after having MedTrekked over 7,650 kilometers around the Mediterranean Sea at that point, he was delighted by this unique pristine and nearly virginal ecosystem.
Not that there aren’t blemishes. Trash disposal is a problem near Agiou Paylou Monastery and many monks prefer riding mules (hence, mucho mule dung) to walking, though ferries are the preferred method of transport. And The Idiot has never heard louder howling from jackals or louder snoring by any bunch of pilgrims, who usually share rooms with from two to forty beds.
Many monks prefer mules.
Ferries go from monastery to monastery.
The entire experience, from MedTrekking on well-tended paths through nearly virginal landscape to participating in lengthy if incomprehensible religious services and very quick but healthy meals, is invigorating, vibrant, exhilarating, illuminating, exotic, serene and definitely out of time. In fact, many monasteries have clocks showing both Greek and Byzantine time, though it doesn’t really matter when the wake-up call is at three am.
Mountain tranquility.
Monastic tranquility.
Garden Tranquility.
Natural Tranquility.
The climb to the summit of Mount Athos is somewhat steep and slippery but there was no surprise at the top. Building material around the existing chapel indicated that it, like everything else on and around the Holy Mountain, is being expanded. There were no workers on Sunday morning and, though clouds obstructed the view of the peninsula and the sea, The Idiot felt the miracle at the top of the mountain and humbly walked inside to pray and light a candle before the colorful icons, cherished relics and gleaming images.
Chapel expansion underway at the summit of the Holy Mountain.
Images and icons atop Mount Athos.
As he sat alone at the peak (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40.15827,24.32736&ll=40.15827,24.32736&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1) for an hour, The Idiot recalled what Theodore, a bakery owner in Ouranopoli, told him just before he boarded the ferry to get into Mount Athos.
“The most you can see from the top of Mount Athos is what you feel.”
A view of Mount Athos from the Sithonia Peninsula.
NB: There is a chapter devoted to Mount Athos in The idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean. Readers learn why The Idiot was told “Nyet” when he tried to stay at a Russian monastery, hear about a delicious lunch at Simonos Petras monastery, enjoy the Greek/German trio he met who bought US military gear on eBay to tackle the mountain climb, meet Father Sava and learn about the people he put on the prayer list that he gave to Father Patrick along with his Swiss Army knife.
The peripatetic monk and Thomas Sidinalsa, an eBay-equipped Greek pilgrim ready to climb Mount Athos.
Text and Photos: Joel Stratte-McClure
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