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<p>[QUOTE="AussieCollector, post: 3992946, member: 81093"][ATTACH=full]1051348[/ATTACH]</p><p>Mosaic, 6th century</p><p><br /></p><p><u>Byzantine coins</u></p><p><br /></p><p>And of course, I bee-lined to any display of coins at any museum or monastery, trying to get as much detail as reasonably possible.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was with some pride that I could stand there in a museum and say “I have that coin. And that one. And that one over there... wait, maybe it’s a different variant. Anyway, close enough. Oh, and that one!”</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051349[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051350[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051351[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051352[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051369[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><u>Mt Athos</u></p><p><br /></p><p>And of course, the crowning glory of my trip to Byzantine was visiting what is (arguably) the last Byzantine state – Mt Athos. Over a decade ago I read about a place in Greece that still flies the Byzantine flag (technically it’s the Eastern Orthodox Church flag, but close enough), where life hadn’t changed for 1,000 years. I decided that I had to visit. And so I did.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051354[/ATTACH]</p><p>Government House, Athos (the Byzantine flag still flies!)</p><p><br /></p><p>For those not familiar with Mt Athos, it is an autonomous state within Greece (much like the Vatican), answerable to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Only males are allowed to enter, essentially to protect the 2,000 monks who have taken vows for life. Those visiting need special permission, and must carry a visa. As a ‘non-Orthodox pilgrim’, I was at their mercy on the dates, and had to build my trip around when I was allowed in.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are no hotels in Mt Athos, no restaurants (although there is a café), no malls, and no tourist information centres. Transport is mostly by walking.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pilgrims are required to stay with the monks in their 13th and 14th century monasteries (oh no!), and eat what the monks eat (they're vegetarian/pescatarian), which was basic but actually pretty good all things considered.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051355[/ATTACH]</p><p>Monastery and port, Mt Athos</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051356[/ATTACH]</p><p>Pantokrator Monastery, Mt Athos, 14th century</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1051357[/ATTACH]</p><p>Dawn over Mt Athos (the actual mountain), from Pantokrator Monastery[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="AussieCollector, post: 3992946, member: 81093"][ATTACH=full]1051348[/ATTACH] Mosaic, 6th century [U]Byzantine coins[/U] And of course, I bee-lined to any display of coins at any museum or monastery, trying to get as much detail as reasonably possible. It was with some pride that I could stand there in a museum and say “I have that coin. And that one. And that one over there... wait, maybe it’s a different variant. Anyway, close enough. Oh, and that one!” [ATTACH=full]1051349[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1051350[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1051351[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1051352[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1051369[/ATTACH] [U]Mt Athos[/U] And of course, the crowning glory of my trip to Byzantine was visiting what is (arguably) the last Byzantine state – Mt Athos. Over a decade ago I read about a place in Greece that still flies the Byzantine flag (technically it’s the Eastern Orthodox Church flag, but close enough), where life hadn’t changed for 1,000 years. I decided that I had to visit. And so I did. [ATTACH=full]1051354[/ATTACH] Government House, Athos (the Byzantine flag still flies!) For those not familiar with Mt Athos, it is an autonomous state within Greece (much like the Vatican), answerable to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Only males are allowed to enter, essentially to protect the 2,000 monks who have taken vows for life. Those visiting need special permission, and must carry a visa. As a ‘non-Orthodox pilgrim’, I was at their mercy on the dates, and had to build my trip around when I was allowed in. There are no hotels in Mt Athos, no restaurants (although there is a café), no malls, and no tourist information centres. Transport is mostly by walking. Pilgrims are required to stay with the monks in their 13th and 14th century monasteries (oh no!), and eat what the monks eat (they're vegetarian/pescatarian), which was basic but actually pretty good all things considered. [ATTACH=full]1051355[/ATTACH] Monastery and port, Mt Athos [ATTACH=full]1051356[/ATTACH] Pantokrator Monastery, Mt Athos, 14th century [ATTACH=full]1051357[/ATTACH] Dawn over Mt Athos (the actual mountain), from Pantokrator Monastery[/QUOTE]
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