The population of the Mount Athos peninsula has been exclusively male - farm animals included - since the ávaton edict, banning females permanent or transient, was promulgated by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos in 1060. Known in Greek as the Áyion Óros (Holy Mountain), it is an administratively autonomous province of the country - a "monks' republic" - on whose slopes are gathered twenty monasteries, plus a number of smaller dependencies and hermitages.

 

Most of the monasteries were founded in the tenth and eleventh centuries; today, all survive in a state of comparative decline but they remain unsurpassed in their general and architectural interest, and for the art treasures they contain. If you are male, over 18 years old and have a genuine interest in monasticism or Greek Orthodoxy, sacred music or simply in Byzantine and medieval architecture, a visit is strongly recommended. It takes less than an hour to arrange in Thessaloníki, though for much of the year you'll need to plan your visit well in advance, and the rewards more than justify any efforts. In addition to the religious and architectural aspects of Athos, it should be added that the peninsula, despite some horrific fires and heavy logging in recent years, remains one of the most beautiful parts of Greece. With only the occasional service vehicle, two buses and sporadic coastal boats, a visit necessarily involves walking between settlements - on paths through dense woods, up the main peak or above what is perhaps the Mediterranean's last undeveloped coastline. For many visitors, this - as much as the experience of monasticism - is the highlight of time spent on the Holy Mountain.