The New Student's Reference Work/Athos, Mount

Athos, Mount, called Monte Santo or Holy Hill by the Italians, a famous mountain in Greece, at the extremity of the peninsula of Chalcidice, on the Ægean Sea. It rises to the height of 6,346 feet above the sea. In ancient times several towns were built on the peninsula. Xerxes cut a canal through the isthmus which connects the peninsula with the mainland, to escape the dangerous passage around the promontory; traces of the canal still exist. The peninsula is celebrated as the seat of a kind of monastic republic, consisting of twenty large monasteries besides numerous hermitages and chapels. The entire number of monks is about 6,000. The whole community is governed by four presidents, one of whom is called the First Man of Athos, and a holy synod of twenty members. The monks lead an ascetic life, living on herbs, fruit and fish. They spend their time in farming, gardening, the care of bees and the manufacture of amulets, images, crucifixes and wooden articles of furniture, which they sell.