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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Only a Poor Old Man, post: 4293819, member: 111037&quot;]Pavlos already answered parts of your question, but it is important to note that as women are not allowed in Athos, nobody has been born there for a thousand years. Monks come to Athos from the outside world, and the majority are ethnic Greeks. However, most Orthodox nations are represented as there is one Russian, one Bulgarian, and one Serbian monastery.&nbsp; The rest (17) are Greek. There is also a Romanian skete ( smaller monastery) and plenty of non Greek hermitages. Also even if a main monastery is regarded Greek, it will also have monks from other nationalities. There are a few American monks residing in Athos and at least a couple of Harvard graduates.</p><p><br /></p><p>I ommited to include in my main post a guide on how to get there.. Nowdays arranging any trip usually consists of a visit to Easyjet and booking.com, however with Athos it is a bit more complicated and a bit more bureucratic. The following is a very detailed guide:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://thessaloniki.pbworks.com/w/page/22156781/Visiting-Athos" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://thessaloniki.pbworks.com/w/page/22156781/Visiting-Athos" rel="nofollow">http://thessaloniki.pbworks.com/w/page/22156781/Visiting-Athos</a></p><p><br /></p><p>If this is too complicated, an easier alternative to get to Byzantine monasteries and magnificent nature is Meteora in central Greece. A lot more touristic though.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Halkidiki region is one of the best kept secrets in Greece. Or at least it was back in 1984. It is a lot more touristic now, however it still has miles of pristine beaches and secluded coves. What I love about Athos is that it also has some picture-postcard beaches too (it is part of Halkidiki), but they have never had a single bikini-clad bather on them, something extremely rare nowdays... The only other beach I can imagine sharing a similar characteristic is probably the one with the rather unfriendly locals on North Sentinel.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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