Mount Athos

A rare Greek icon named Axion Esti from the all-male monastic community of Mount Athos was transported on Wednesday to Athens, where it will be exhibited for public veneration over the next two weeks.

Ukraine was the most searched entry in Greek Wikipedia last year, exceeding 700,000 views, which is an all-time record, according to data published by the local Wikimedia Community User Group on its website on Monday.

From the imposing monastery of Megiste Lavra to the Russian monastery, Mount Athos is a deeply mystifying place.

By George Gilson

The head of the Thessaloniki Prosecutor's Office has ordered a probe into charges by Abbott Vartholomeos of Esphigmenou Monastery on Mount Athos (photo) that unvaccinated monks are not only refusing to get the jab but are also urging the faithful not to do so.

The famed Abbott Ephraim of the Mount Athos Monastery has fallen into critical condition in his 11th day as a COVID-19 patient in Athens' Evangelismos Hospital.

The all-male monastic community of Mount Athos announced on Friday it will extend a ban on visitors or pilgrims until February 28, as part of measures against the coronavirus pandemic.

Additionally, staff or other essential visitors will be tested for the coronavirus at all entry ports to Mt. Athos.

A 76-year-old monk in Mount Athos died of Covid-19 last Saturday while six monasteries on the peninsula have been placed in quarantine, the monastic community's civil governor said on Wednesday.

The digital imaging of thousands of relics and manuscripts kept in monasteries on Mount Athos in northern Greece has been completed as part of the Athonite Digital Ark project after a process lasting two-and-a-half years.

Anyone arriving at Greece's land borders who test positive for the novel coronavirus will not be allowed to enter the country, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias announced on Friday.

Speaking during a regular press briefing on the developments with the pandemic, Hardalias also said that authorities will ban visits to the monasteries of Mount Athos.

The all-male monastic community of Mount Athos in northern Greece reopened its doors to pilgrims on Monday, on the condition that they are in possession of the special permits required.

Entry is also allowed to all employees of the monasteries of the Athonite State. Visitors numbers, however, will be limited to 15 people per monastery.