With so much history to discover in and around Greece and its Islands you can experience anything from Spinalonga Island in Crete to The Church of Saint Gerasimos in Kefalonia. Each island in Greece and its mainland has so much culture and history to explore you could spend a whole lifetime just travelling around there to experience and discover it all. One of the places I have found that is of great interest is Halkidiki which is located in Northern Greece on the mainland. It has a vast amount of history and the one place that really stands out to me the most is the Mount Athos Peninsular.
Halkidiki has three peninsulas all with different names. The first peninsular is Kassandra and is the area that most travellers go to as it is the most developed and commercial of all three peninsulas. It is a quiet and relaxing area but still has the most to do and see. The second peninsular is Sithonia. This is not as developed as the peninsular of Kassandra but does still bring many tourists to experience its very unspoilt and laid back environment and also offers a fabulous scenic, rugged landscape. The third peninsular is known as Mount Athos. This place is very sacred and only a selected few people on the planet will ever get to experience.
Mount Athos is the ultimate and most fascinating peninsular of Halkidiki and has been known as this due to the mountain that covers the peninsular. It covers over three hundred and fifty square kilometres and is officially a UNESCO heritage site. It is an absolutely perfect area of the world and provides some outstanding natural splendour. Mount Athos is also known by some as the Garden of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Mount. It is the only place in Greece that is entirely dedicated and devoted to praying and worshipping God as it homes nearly fourteen hundred Greek Orthodox monks. Mount Athos has twenty self governed territories with each of them having a leading monastery with an elected Abbot who takes the role for life. Each monastery is a commune, so work, prayers and other worshiping duties all take place in them. The peninsular is joined to the mainland and although it cant be reached by any other form of vehicle other than boat, only the chosen few people will be able to obtain permission onto this astonishing land. Only men are allowed onto the land and only with special permission. Women are totally forbidden to come onto this land as the Monks believe that anything female on their land, even animals, could outshine the Virgin Mary and this rule is still in place today after over a thousand years of the rule being implemented. So if you are attracted to this area and are a female and you fancy visiting, it is sadly never going to happen, but you can take one of the numerous boat trips that get as close up as five hundred metres to the perfect shoreline of the peninsular to try and get a sneaky peak of the incredible Mount Athos. With only men being allowed onto the land the Monks will only allow a maximum of one hundred men per day. Should they want to visit they must be a member of the Orthodox Church or a member of any other religious organisation with permission from their priest or religious governor and also permission from the embassy or consulate of Greece. Many visitors take this trip as a pilgrimage and stay for a few days, all free of charge including meals and residing in one of the monasteries and living by the Monks rules however some students do travel here as part of studies and can have their visits extended as long as the Abbot of the monastery permits this, which they usually do. Only the vehicles that are the property of the Monks are allowed onto the sacred land and no others. They use these for work purposes and transferring pilgrims and guests to their specific monastery.
As the monasteries are Orthodox Christian many pilgrims do try to visit here, mainly to witness the largest museum of Byzantine art in the whole world and it is also the chief bearer of Orthodox Christianity so it is a very sought after place to visit for this specific religion.
If you want to take one of the many
cheap holidays to Halkidiki that are available for just or holiday or even to do a pilgrimage to Mount Athos or just to have a look for yourself then I hope this has given you an insight to one of the many wonders that you can discover in Halkidiki.
Amen.
