Inside the 'Holy Mountain': Exploring the Unseen World of Mount Athos

Mount Athos, in northern Greece, is a place steeped in a truly unique history. The tree-swathed slopes of the "Holy Mountain," as it is commonly called, encompass 127 miles on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Mount Athos, which operates as an autonomous region within Greece itself, contains 20 separate active Greek Orthodox monasteries, and has functioned as a spiritual center of the Orthodox church since the 10th century. About 1,400 monks currently reside on the mountain, which has been designated...