How the Mount Athos monasteries prospered for centuries
By Alice Isabella Sullivan
Mount Athos the peninsula in Greece that is home to one of the oldest Eastern Christian monastic communities has received support from an array of patrons over the course of its long history. This patronage of Athos ensured the autonomous continuity and prosperity of the monasteries and accorded with the royal aspirations of those rulers who extended the gifts and donations.
From the Middle Ages to the present, monastic life on Mount Athos has unfolded in 20 main monasteries, some with a history that dates to the tenth century. The Protaton, the oldest church on Athos, was built during the first half of the tenth century and served as the major church in Karyes the seat of clerical and secular administration on Athos that regularly gathers delegates from each of the monasteries. The Great Lavra Monastery was founded in 963. The plan of its main church (or
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