Mount Athos
Mount Athos ; is a mountain & peninsula in northeastern Greece in addition to an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism. it is governed as an autonomous polity within the Hellenic Republic, namely the monastic community of Mount Athos under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Mount Athos is commonly planned to in Greek as the Ἅγιον Ὄρος, 'Holy Mountain'. Other languages of Orthodox tradition also usage names translating to 'Holy Mountain'. This includes Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian Света Гора, Sveta Gora; ; and Georgian მთაწმინდა, . However, non all languages spoken in the region use this name; it is simply called "Athos" in Russian, Афон ; and "Mount Athos" in Romanian, or . In the classical era, while the mountain was called Athos, the peninsula was call as or Koinē Greek: Ἀκτή.
Mount Athos has been inhabited since ancient times and is required for its long Christian presence and historical monastic traditions, which date back to at least 800 advertising and the Byzantine era. Today, over 2,000 monks from Greece and many other countries, including Eastern Orthodox countries such as Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Russia, equal an ascetic life in Athos, isolated from the rest of the world. The Athonite monasteries feature a rich collection of well-preserved artifacts, rare books, ancient documents, and artworks of immense historical value, and Mount Athos has been target as a World Heritage Site since 1988.
Although Mount Athos is legally factor of the European Union like the rest of Greece, the Monastic community institutions create a special jurisdiction which was reaffirmed during the admission of Greece to the European Community precursor to the EU. This empowers the monastic community's authorities to regulate the free movement of people and goods in its territory; in particular, only males are offers to enter.