Things to do and what to look at Athos - such a question simply should not stand when you arrived there. This is a wonderful peninsula in the north of Eastern Greece with luxury nature and a mild climate, which is known worldwide as "Holy Mountain". Interestingly, in the system of districts of Greece, Athos is called "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain".
Although no matter is the state of the world's largest national community of 20 Orthodox monasteries. Only about 2.5 thousand people live here, although in the past decades the people here were much more. The entire peninsula with his mountain is under UNESCO guard.
We will not list and praise all natural merits, let's talk better about local attractions.
Ancient city of Uranopolis (Ouranopolis)
This is an ancient town in the northern part of the peninsula, which has long been considered one of the best resorts of Greece. There is a town near the Sacred Mount of Athos, 132 kilometers from Thessaloniki. Here is a port where pilgrims come to sail on the boat to Mount Athos (about 30 thousand annually, of which 10% are foreigners). By the way, it is impossible to climb to the sacred mountain. Uranopolis is a beautiful city with a fairly developed entertainment sphere. A delightful day holiday on hot sandy beaches (maybe not the best in Greece, but nevertheless) successfully ends with gatherings in local bars in the evening. There are a number of shops in the city where you can buy icons and church utensils. Not far from the port you can visit the beautiful Byzantine Tower. Byzantine tower is the main attraction of the Uranopolis. This construction is in the southwestern part of the village and looks almost the same as initially, even after several reconstructions. In one wing of the tower there is an exhibition of icons and Byzantine artifacts.
Iversky Monastery (μονή ιβήρων, IVIRON MONASTERY)
The founder of the temple in the northeast of the peninsula, the Georgian Saint John Iversky (which was previously close to the king, but threw everything and became a monk), Erected the construction in 980. In general, Iviron is the Greek name of the ancient Georgia, so the temple was considered Georgian, because they were built during the reign of the Georgian king David. By the beginning of the 14th century, by decree of the patriarch, the male monastery was ranked as Greek abode, and the name decided not to change. The monastery "Fought" for its existence after a number of fires, which happened until the 10th century. There were several countries at once, including Russia and Georgia at once. The monastery has several relics of saints and over 150 miraculous icons (for example, the miraculous icon of the 9th century goalkeeper), 2,000 manuscripts, 15 scrolls and 20,000 printed books in Georgian, Greek, Jewish and Latin. Perhaps it is difficult to find another temple like this. Today, about 30 monks live in the monastery, the truth is not Georgian. To the monastery is best to swim on the ferry from the northern part of the island (the path will take about 4.5 hours)
Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon (μονή αγίου παντελεήμονος, MONI AGIAU PANTELEIMONOS)
Also, this temple is called "Panteleimonov Monastery", "Rossikon" or "New Russik". The cathedral is one of the 20-acting monasteries on the Holy Mount Athos. It was built in the 11th century, experienced quite good times, while in the 18th century did not come to a distressed state (only three monks lived there) and was declared Greek. But by the end of the 19th century, again, the largest monastery on the Holy Mountain in the area and the number of brethren, and the bells in the temple were the largest in the whole country. The main value of the temple is a rich library, which, unfortunately, suffered greatly during a fire in 1959. Nevertheless, still the library stores about 20,000 valuable books and manuscripts.
How to find: MONI AGIAU PANTELEIMONOS, West Coast
Simonopetra Monastery (μονή σιμωνόπετρα, simonopetra monastery)
This monastery is located at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level. To achieve this building, you will have to float on the ferry to the monastery berth (or arsana). This pier is very old, built it almost immediately after the construction of the monastery, because it was simply impossible to adjust to the rocks. The berth was built by the hands of the monks, and later, in the 18th century, the berth was made, the shore was built a couple of houses and an observation tower, for defensive purposes.
How to find: Agio Oros, West Coast (3 hours on Ferry from Uranopolis)
Monastery of Philofey (φιλοθέου, monastery philotheos)
This is an Orthodox monastery in the northeast of the peninsula and one of the oldest monasteries on the Holy Mountain. The temple was built in 982 by the Philofey, the student of Afonasia Athos, who opened the first monastery on Athos. Today 60 monks live in this temple, which are representatives of different nationalities. The main value of the temple is the two miraculous icons of the Mother of God, the "Sweet Lobzia" and "freezing". Also here are a number of holy relics, for example, a part of the life-giving tree, which was presented to the temple by the Byzantine emperor of the 11th century Nikifor III Vataniat. This temple is known and visited, and the monastery is recognized as one of the most beautiful and well-groomed monasteries.
Address: Agio Oros, East Coast of Athos Peninsula
Franc Castle (Zigu Temple, Francs Castle)
A distinctive feature of the cathedral is that this is a single region of the region, which is available for visiting women. In general, he is behind the official border of Afona, 40 meters from it, but the temple is often associated with Athos. About the Byzantine Church in honor of the Prophet Ilya for the first time mentioned in the chronicles of 942 years. The temple peacefully existed until the end of the 12th century. While he was not captured by the fan knight with his warriors. Based in this cathedral, they went to make raids with the goal of profit on the holy land. However, the temple saved Pope Roman, who helped evict the villains from the castle. Today, only a part of the walls and several towers can be seen on the site of a powerful castle. The temple is a place of permanent archaeological excavations. The castle is located southeast of Uranopolis.