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Important Note: Women and girls are prohibited from going to Mount Athos. Only men and boys are allowed. Life in Mount Athos is simple. The monks believe that the way of man to find God is through solitude, prayer, exercise, obedience to the Spiritual Father, service, and fasting. They eat a small quantity of food every day, mainly bread and olives, because they want to exercise their body through deprivation. Moreover, they stay in the monastery cells or in caves, pray to God, and do agricultural work. Since both monks and visitors lead a simple life, no modern facilities can be found around. Get on board and enjoy a cruise to Mount Athos with a fantastic glass-bottom boat! Witness the beauty of Athos from afar, learn key facts about its long history, and sail through the gulf while looking right inside the sea! The origins of the area's name vary. One source says that while the Gods and the Giants were fighting, the Giant Athos threw a massive rock at the god Poseidon, which fell into the sea and became Mount Athos. Another legend has it that while the Virgin Mary and Evangelist John were on their way to Cyprus, a great storm forced them to temporarily dock in the harbor where the Monastery of Iviron is found today. Mary was so amazed by the beauty of the place and asked her Son to offer her the whole area as a present. Thereafter, Mount Athos is called the Garden of the Virgin Mary . The first monks to inhabit the place arrived at Mount Athos in 5 AD and found this area ideal for worshiping God, free from the distractions of everyday life. The governing body of the Holy Mountain is the Holy Community (Iera Kinotita), which consists of representatives from the 20 Holy Monasteries. 17 out of the 20 monasteries are Greek, while there are also a Serbian, a Bulgarian and a Russian one. Apart from the monasteries, there are 12 sketes (smaller communities of monks) and many solitary hermitages. The monasteries are storehouses of rich Byzantine history. You can see paintings from 13 AD, music manuscripts from the Byzantine era, marble sculptures of columns, turrets, chalices, icon screens and exquisite miniatures in gold and silver dating back to the 12th century. Approximately one-quarter of all the Greek works in the world are kept there in the form of books and handwritten manuscripts, numbering around 15,000 valuable items. The Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain stands on the eastern peninsula of Halkidiki. Mount Athos is also known as the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain. Upload your best photos of Greece and interact with other Greeka members!