Here's an article about a visit to Mount Athos, and the controversy about the "no women" rule there: A hard habit to break.
Arriving back on the Greek mainland from Mount Athos, I see women for the first time in two and a half weeks. They are sunbathing on a patch of beach in Ouranopolis, right next to where the boat from Athos comes in to deposit its mixed load of pilgrims, delivery lorries and the occasional errant monk. It's as close as the women can get, unless they pay to gaze at the peninsula from a boat or risk up to a year in prison by entering illegally.
I’m surprised to realise that during my time on Agion Oros (which means holy mountain), Athos’s proper title, I scarcely noticed their absence. The centre of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a peninsula of 400 square kilometres that has been inhabited only by men for the past 1,000 years, is a self-governing, virtually self-financing community of 20 monasteries and their dependent settlements. It has been the recipient of some breathtaking masterpieces of devotional art, and visitors and monks come here from all over the world.
There are far more weird and wonderful things to consider here than just the absence of women, but it happens that, at the time of my visit, that’s how Athos has been making the news. [continue]
I love reading about life on Mt Athos, but the current fuss to change centuries of tradition so we can all have equal opportunity monastic visiting - oh, that annoys me. Grrrr.
Posted on October 24, 2003 10:29 PM. Filed under: religion.