Mount Athos, a verdant peninsula in northern Greece, has been a center of Christian Orthodox monasticism for more than 1,000 ...

The monastery is one of 20 in the autonomous all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, known in Greek as Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain. The peninsula is no stranger to foreigners. Of the 20 ...

While men from other faiths can spend a few days at Mount Athos as visitors, only Orthodox men can become monks. Most of Simonos Petra’s 65 monks hail from European countries where Orthodoxy is ...

Also known as Simonopetra or Simon’s Rock, the Christian Orthodox monastery transcends country-based branches of the faith by embracing monks from across the world, including converts from non ...