Mt Athos

The holy mountain of Mt Athos is really a long peninsula which rises at its southern tip to 6,000'. Dotted along its length are twenty Russian and Greek monasteries, several dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries. Women are absolutely forbidden to set foot on the Mountain and there are few roads for access. It is astonishing that buildings of this scale were built in such a remote place and that the monasteries are still active today. We were fortunate that most of the monasteries are on or near the coast and can be seen from the ship.