Mount Athos Encounter

Agion Oros, which means Holy Mountain in Greek, is also known as Mount Athos; it is a sacred landscape located on a peninsula in Chalkidiki, in Northern Greece, where one experiences Orthodox spirituality and is home to more than 2,000 monks. It is an autonomous state, consisting of 20 monasteries, with its own jurisdiction in the Hellenic Republic. Mount Athos, as the holiest site of the Eastern Orthodox faith, is also known as the “Garden of the Mother of God”. As a uniquely male monastic society, only men are permitted to enter the Mount Athos region. The healing quality of Mount Athos is one of restoration to physical health, spiritual entirety and well-being by engaging in an encounter with the monastic way of life. The road leads from restoration to spiritual resilience. The “Mount Athos Encounter”, to be launched in 2023, offers a personal privileged journey of self-discovery and inner growth by mapping an in-person encounter with monasticism through the sacred garden of Mount Athos by forming a small group of no more than five men, who are screened and qualified and knew each other beforehand, accompanied by the facilitator, an orthodox theologian.