In December 1920 two  articles about Athos were published in the French magazine L’Illustration, one in the (extra thick) Christmis edition of December 4th and the second on December 25th 1920. Both articles describe the pilgrimage of the author Georges Rémond, together with the artists Charles Martel and Paul Jouve, in August 1917 – during the Great War. Not long after their visit the French General Sarrail and Admiral des Vignaux visited Mount Athos in 1918, together with the photographer Millet, who took these pictures.

In the first article of December 4th 1920, called “La très sainte montagne de l’Athos”, Martel and Jouve published their fine watercolors (aquarelles), photographs and drawings, that I would like to share with you (recently I got the opportunity to buy both magazines).Martel – watercolor (14 x 21): arsanas Iviron: the tower and “fishermen monks”Martel – watercolor (11 x 16): Mount Athos seen from Stravronikita

The maps used in the articleJouve – drawing (19 x 12,5): a monk from Chilandariou hits the semantron 1917Martel – watercolor (12 x 8): a small church on the Iviron territory(14 x 9,5)Martel (21 x 16) – two watercolors of SimonopetrasJouve – (32,5 x 46) watercolor of Simonopetras, used as a centerfold in the magazineMartel – watercolor (11 x 9): the door to the Protaton church in KaryesMartel – watercolor (30 x 21): a street in Karyes. This is without doubt the most striking and colorfull ‘aquarelle’, a real piece of art.Martel – watercolor (13,5 x 18): arsanas of the Great LavraMartel – watercolor (10,5 x 16): Great Lavra, view from the loggia where the monks livePicture: the monks of Stavronikita (10 x 14)Martel – watercolor (17 x 13): the trapeza of DionysiouMartel – watercolor (11 x 8): the road leading to DionysiouMartel – watercolor (8 x 9) – DocheiariouMartel – watercolor (6 x 9) Iviron: the seaside facade

Wim Voogd, 14/6, next time I will show the 2nd magazine of Dec 1920.

In December 1920 the French magazine L’Illustration published two articles about mount Athos, in post 1829 I showed you the images from the Noel-Christmas publication from december 4th 1920.

Today I will present the pictures and watercolors from the magazine of December 25th 1920. The originals of the watercolors are kept in the museum Centre Pompidou in Paris. If you go to the museum site and type ‘Athos’ in the search bar you find them (in a better quality then the prints I show you!) 

The article starts with the chapter “Les arts a l’Athos” and some black and white pictures of religious objects of poor quality, of which I wil show you two:

The cross of Nicophoros Phocas, the Byzantine emperor

Martel – watercolor (11 x 16): the courtyard and gantries in Great LavraMartel – watercolor (15 x 21): the trapeza of Great Lavra, with its stone tablesMartel – watercolor (29 x 21): Lavra, the cypress of Athanasius

Three black and white pictures: Chilandariou, a painting of the Annonciation, the apron of the Holy Virgin from Vatopedi and monks sounding a bell in DocheiariouPaul Jouve – watercolor (31 x 50), the centerfold: Iviron in the light of the moonDetail of the last image, left corner: Mont Athos, Monastere d’Iviron, Julliet 1917Black and white picture: Easter service at VatopediBlack and white picture: the Proto-Epistasis Anthymas and his gards (Seimonides)Black and white picture: the monks of DocheiariouBlack and white picture: Iviron – monks form neighbourng cells assist during the Easter ceremonyMartel – watercolor (15 x 11): the entrance to VatopediMartel – watercolor (9 x 13): the graveyard and tower of StavronikitaMartel – watercolor (7,5 x 11): Lavra, the guesthouse/archontarikiMartel – watercolor (11 x 16): Vatopedi, the courtyard and phialeMartel – watercolor (17,5 x 14): Karakalou, the katholicon

Wim Voogd, 16/6

In a chapel close to the main entrance of the monastery of Iviron, behind red decorated doors the famous icon Panagia Portaitissa can be venerated. A friendly monk who was on guard kindly gave me a postcard of the icon.
“Holy wonder-working icon of Panagia Portaitissa”, I read at the back of the postcard. Our Lady of the Gate. It had travelled to Athos on its own from Nicaea, the ancient city that the Turks call Iznik today, to escape the iconoclast ruler Theophilos. And later it was put in the katholikon but three times it moved itself outside the church over the gate. There is still a special entrance for the icon. For who knows it might want to escape again sometime. A monk had a vision in which the Virgin appeared and told him to build a special chapel for the icon. And so it happened. One of the miracles is the scar on Maria’s face, that bled.
Norwich writes that mentioning the fact that the icon is almost certain from the fourteenth century, and that Iviron was not yet build in iconoclastic times is not only a matter of bad manners, but even worse: it is to miss the point. We wouldn’t like to miss the point or misbehave.
The intimate relation between Russia and Athos, between worldly and spiritual powers, was illustrated by the recent visit of President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to the monastic Republic. He came to celebrate a thousand years of Russian presence. So there are many stories to be told between the two. One is about the Panagia Portaitissa.

In the seventeenth century an exact copy of the Panagia Portaitissa was made. It was placed in a chapel in the Kremlin wall in Moscow; the Iviron Chapel at the Iberian gate. It was centrally situated right on the main entrance to the Red Square and venerated by all who entered the square.
H.G. Wells wrote in his 1920 book Russia in the shadows: “The celebrated miraculous shrine of the Iberian Madonna outside the Redeemer Gate was particularly busy. There were many peasant women, unable to get into the little chapel, kissing the stones outside. Just opposite to it, on a plaster panel on a house front, is that now celebrated inscription put up by one of the early revolutionary administrations in Moscow: “Religion is the Opium of the People.” The effect this inscription produces is greatly reduced by the fact that in Russia the people cannot read.”
The devotion irritated the Bolsheviks, they needed a broader approach for heavy military vehicles (parades!) anyway, so they destroyed the gate, the chapel and moved the icon in 1929. Instead they erected a statue of a worker.

The icon was moved to the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Sokolniki, also in Moscow.
But both the Iberian gate and the Iviron chapel were rebuild in 1996 and a new copied icon was flown in from Athos.
Bas Kamps

The only town on Athos, Karyes, has changed a lot and became more commercial in recent years. Not so very long ago there was only a bar (with food and a possibility to sleep. A zero-star hotel I was told where you shared your bed with tiny insects) and a place where you could buy religious souvenirs.
Now there is even a good coffee shop with excellent Italian coffees (also: to take away, for the rushed pilgrim). Several shops for religious goodies. A kind of supermarket, a hardware store and even a men’s clothing shop. I wonder what will be next: a barbershop, a men’s health centre or a night club?The bar and restaurant offers shelter for the tired pilgrims. The young beardless boy, with his blue jacket supporting Russia, isn’t an exception anymore. The fresco of the main street of Karyes (meaning: hazel nuts) has an agreeable naiveté. It always reminds me of the work of Giorgio di Chirico.
To the left hangs a picture on the wall of mount Athos’ summit during sunrise with pilgrims. A long standing wish, I hope it will come true once in my lifetime to witness the sunrise on that very spot.
We like to drink a cool Mythos from the bottle there. But not this time so early in the morning. We had a good filling breakfast there.Cats and men waiting for things to come on a square of Karyes. The cats in anticipation of food and the men waiting for the bus to take them to the port, to Dafni. Karyes is the administrative centre, the parliamentary centre and the capital of the Holy Mountain.
The shop most to the right is a supermarket, next a religious shop, then the Italian coffee shop, another religious outlet and to the left a hardware store.
Here pilgrim Jacques proudly shows his brand new pair of trousers. Since we arrived in Sografou he had an opening in his trousers in a place where you don’t want an abyss, as described in post 1762. Co-pilgrim Herman is taking pictures in the background.
A closer look at the front of the supermarket that sells chilled beers and fresh orange juice.The religious shops offers a wide variety of icons, walking sticks, incense and other religious objects to take home.
The valuable silver objects are carefully protected by layers of plastic.
A monk with a plastic shopping bag walks away with his new buys from the city businesses into contemplation.When the bus finally arrives everybody rushes and hurries towards the front door. It is not exactly a proper English queue but everyone enters undamaged. We’re on our way to Dafni!
Text and pictures
Bas Kamps

(the ‘zero-star’ rating of the hotel is based on our own experiences in 1986 and 1997, it does not say anything about the present quality. Nowadays the place is run by Nikos and his cook Spiros (a Greek Albanian): according to our reader Hans Overduin he has good memories of staying in the hotel, so quality must have improved. The name of the hotel/restaurant is To Athonikon, tel 0377 23362 – Wim Voogd, 5/7)

Old picture of skiti Andreou 

On our first day of our 2015 Athos pilgrimage, 20th of September, we slept in Skiti Andreou, the former Russian convent, now inhabited by Greek monks. I remember walking past this large settlement for the first time in 1980: it was almost totally empty and deserted, no people, no sounds, a sence of decay and empytness, it gave me a creepy feeling. I did not dare to go in and have a look, a thing I really regret after so many years…..

But things changed in the meanwhile: nowadays the place is florishing and it is busy with people who live, work and pray there and with pilgrims who pay a visit. Buildings and churches are renovated and work is still in progress, although part of the buildings remains in ruin.

I decided to walk around the old buildings to see how it looked like from the outside. At first I ended up in the gardens.

I drew a plan of the buildings still in place. The plan is not professional, but usefull for this post.The plan of of Skiti Andreou or Serail. The entrance is at A, where our walk starts. Building B is the Athos school Athonias, E is the large church form 1900, J the smaller church that is renovated right now and G is the guesthouse. All these buildings will be shown to you in later posts (due to family circumstances I was not able publish frequently in the past weeks).

Let’s start with a picture of the entrance (A).The top of the roofs of the chapels and the church are recently being guilded.  Above the entrance: the Saint Andreou and the “All seeing Eye”.

Right from the entrance: the soccer/basketball court of the Athonias school – B (also see 1232).The Athonias schoolIf you walk in the other direction from the gate (to the North) you will have to open a fence and soon after you will see these buildings on your right hand.A little bit futher: vines and a glasshouse in the garden of Andreou.

And then something special shows up, that I never seen before in any publication:Going down in the garden, a small phiale is hidden between the trees (C on the map)!The small phiale under the trees.The phiale with decorative marble carvings and eight pillars, build in 1902. And when you turn around you will see this:A well with fresh water running from the tap.A miniature chapel with the well behind it.Looking up from the well/phiale: the garden with the ruined part of Andreou and the top of the church.A picture in the North direction: ruins and builiding D on the map.Detail of a ruined house seen from the gardenSeen through the bushes: the top of a roof with a fine guilded cross.A well kept house in the lower parts of the garden.View from the garden to a nearby kellion with fine blue roof.In detail.Two other kellions seen from the garden.Left from the wooden white cross three pictures above: a small shed in the garden, see the red O below.Here you can see where I took pictures in the garden. P is the philae, O the shed above. The following five pictures below are from the left side of the garden (see X).Garden chapel at point X.The chapel is dedicated to Agios Filaretos o Eleimon.Next to the chapel lies a large water reservoir, under the sink roof (also spot X).The last photo of this post is taken on my way back to the main entrance at spot W: another water reservoir, carefully protected by a fence and nets.

Wim, 17/7

My fellow Athos pilgrim Peter Ariese, who visited Athos in 2011 for the first time together with our group, came back to the Holy Mountain April this year, this time joined by his brother and Albert Hollander, who made this video.The group agreed on sharing this video with the visitors of this weblog. It is compilation of pictures and film, dubbed by friendly Greek and religious music from Vatopedi. The Athos pilgrimage starts at 2.40”. Their visit started with one day delay, because the boats didn’t sail from Ouranopolis, due to stormy weather.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0vsLOa4Wv_BWUhXZUtmZ0tYb0k/view?usp=sharing

Wim, 20/7

I think there is no pilgrim who had no difficulties to make a swift and easy reservation to spend a night in monastery. The reason? They still use the oldfashioned fax. Eather you do not get connexion, or it might be that the fax machine is out of order or monks just don’t answer your fax message.

This is why it is hopefull to see that more and more monasteries and skites throw the fax machine finally out and start to communicate by email. I have been collecting email adresses in the past time and with the help of our reader Aljaž I have collected some adresses.

The big question is, is this list complete? Who can help us to add more email adresses, to provide our readers with the most up-to-date information ? Please help us and sent a commend or email.

Monasteries:

Panteleimonos: rpm.palomnik@gmail.com

Zografou: zografergo@gmail.com

Iviron: imiviron@gmail.com

Xeropotamou: xeropotamou@yahoo.gr

Chilandariou: pilgrims@hilandar.org

Simonopetras: hospitality@simonopetra.gr

Vatopedi: filoxenia@vatopedi.gr

Skites

Nea Skiti: eugeniosathos@gmail.com

Kellion

Timiou Stavrou – Father David: crest1969@hotmail.com

New email adresses:

Xenophontos: arhontariki@imxegrnophontos.gr (thanks Michalis 27/7)

Agiou Pavlou: moni@agiou-pavlou.gr ; evdokimos@me.com (thanks Ioan 27/7)

We have 9 adresses of monasteries now, still 11 to go!

I did not have any suitable pictures for this post, that’s why I will share the recent pictures of something totally different: on the Dutch Athos Facebook site of Vasilis I found the rare pictures of monk Eusebios Christofi from Nea Skiti, who has been digging up the bones of Father Dimitrios last Monday, who died three years ago.Father Dimitrios with his hat (and his artificial hip)Father Dimitrios’ bones spread out on a kitchen table

Wim, 26/7 (I will be on a summer holiday till 21/8)

                
When arriving at Makedonia airport in september 2015 it was raining very hard. Water flowed through the streets of Thessaloniki. But we safely reached the busstation by taxi and took the bus to Ouranoupolis, the town in Chalkidiki were the pilgrimage to Mount Athos normally starts.

The rain was still pouring when we saw the tower of Ouranoupolis. Streams of mud colored the sea water brown.
When the wetter cleared a little bit we walked, as we do every year when we are in Ouranoupolis, to the Athos border. This time we climbed the hill in front of the stone borderwall which runs into the sea. The two figures on the peer are policeman who are guarding the border but now probably fishing.

After 4 days on Athos we returned to Ouranoupolis. It was sunny again, as it was during our stay at the Holy Mountain.

The Ouranoupolis tower in full sunlight.

To get an impression of Ouranoupolis I filmed the boulevard along the beach with a small chapel,  many restaurants, bars and the ticketoffice for the ferry to Athos. At the end of the footage we meet our fellow pilgrims.

Herman Voogd

In 2015 we entered Mount Athos by boat from Ierissos. We passed the ruins of the small monastery of Saint Basil or Vasiliou. Vasiliou belongs to the Serbian monastery of Chilandariou.

A couple of hundred meters inland the Milutin tower named after a Serbian king,  dominates the landscape. Beneath it,  the vineyards of the Chilandariou monastery which is, on foot, a half hour away.

Milutin tower and Vasiliou, photo taken from the Ierissis boat, which was shaking wildly because of the rather high waves. The boat brought us to Vatopedi. Later that day we walked to Sografou.
The next day, when we walked the path high up the hills from Sografou to Chilandariou, suddenly we had a great view on the ruins and the tower with the islet of Aghios Vasilios in the middle. This beautiful place is an inspiration for painters especially Serbian artists. Here are some examples:

Watercolours by Stevan Arsic and Milorad Maravic: Saint Basil’s

Stevan Arsic and Vojislav Dimitrijevic

Vojislav Dimitrijevic: Saint Basil’s

Milutin tower by Dragomir Todorovic and Branko Babic

Zdravko Mandic: The Way
In the catalogue Journey to the Mountain: Aquarelles of the Holy Mountain by 26 Serbian Artists (2006) all the watercolours can be admired.

Herman Voogd

Chromitsa around 1910Chromitsa and Bogoroditsa – Xylourgou (thanks Giannis)Paleo Monastir 1988Panteleimon 1835Panteleimon 1861 LithographPanteleimon prior to 1862 (from refectory)Panteleimon: from kellion Panteleimon Karyes, before 1886Panteleimon construction of the South wing, 1871Panteleimon 1886Panteleimon 1895Panteleimon 1986

Wim, 27/8

Stavronikita: first weblog header – 2007

Ten years ago we started this weblog for the group of pilgrims that planned a visit to Holy Mountain (Jaap, Harry, Douwe, Fanta, Jitze, Herman and Wim), not realizing that 10 years later the weblog has grown into a serious hobby, with 1841 posts, more than 500.000 views and  almost 100.000 visitors (counting from January 2013) and with visitors from all over the world (154 countries in 2015).Panteleimonos-monks in 1980

137 readers follow our wordpress-blog and we have 4187 followers on Twitter. Publishers ask us to review books about Athos and map makers seek publicity for their new product. Readers share their Athos stories and pictures on this blog and Athos friends help us with professional comments and advice (thanks Giannis, Jan Paul, Vasilis, Bertinos, Alex, Sean, Hans, Gerard, Bart and many others). But also on the Holy Mountain the Athos-weblog did not go unnoticed: during our six visits in the past 10 years many pilgrims and monks complimented us for our work: one of readers called our blog “a goldmine with information about Athos”.Collecting ID cards and the Diamoniterion in Karyes – 1986

Reason for us to continue our blog in the following years. Also thanks to our fellow pilgrims Gert-Jan, Jitze and Jacques, and a special thanks to Bas Kamps for his worthfull contributions to this blog. And we -ofcourse- want to say thanks our all readers for visiting this site. Please continue to do so, we will try to do our best to write stories and show pictures of one of the most beautiful places on Earth, our beloved peninsula Athos.

Wim and Herman Voogd, 31th August 2016

Dionysiou 1989

I went to Athos for the first time in 1989 together with my two brothers and friend Jaap. My brother Wim had bought a  second hand Saab Turbo for holiday use and so we decided to go by car from Amsterdam to Ouranoupolis. The route is more then 2500 km but we had a fast car. The first day we reached the town of Kutina near Zagreb in Croatia.The second day in Thessaloniki we found ourselves in the middle of political demonstrations of the two main parties then. One day the city turned blue, the other day the colors were green. In Thessaloniki we had to get to the Dutch/Danish Consulate with our letter of recommendation from our university . The Consulate gave us a certificate of good conduct and afterwards  we went to the pilgrims office to get permission to enter Mount Athos.

It is still a tradition on arriving in Ouranoupolis that we visit the Athos border but then we didn’t walk, as we do nowadays, but took the the car. We tried to understand  the words of the “border monk”,  but it was in vain, so we made some pictures.

Then finally we sat foot on the Holy Mountain where we first had to go to Karyes by bus to get our Diamonitirion (Athos passport). Here we are waiting next to the Protaton church.
With our Diamonitirion we started hiking back to the coast,  direction Panteleimonos,  taking the monopatia. Nowadays the paths are turned into dirt roads or are overtaken by nature. It was a beautiful walk. We rested and studied the Zwerger map at an abandoned kellion.
Suddenly a cow or an ox passed our way . At the time we did not think much about it as we were unaware that meat was not on the monks menu. Never have seen cattle anymore in all the 7 following visits to Athos. 
In 1967 monks used oxes to plough the land of Chilandariou.
We were very impressed by the size of the Russian monastery of Panteleimonos where we spent our first night. Not more then 10 monks were living there at the time. Watch the use of different colors for the walls and towers.
            
Me posing before nice oleander flowers at Panteleimonos glad not wearing the heavy walking shoes anymore after the rather exhausting walk. The next day we took the coastal path  to Dafni and the dirt road to Simonas Petras.

We admired the small courtyard of Gregoriou and continued our hike to end the day in Dionysiou where I made this photo of  a praying monk.Monk at Dinonysiou. Our next goal was the monastery of Filotheou so we walked back to Simonos Petras to take the path up the ridge there.
The entrance of Simonas Petras, From this monastery we took a small path high up over the central ridge of the peninsula. After descending we kinda lost our way but eventually we found Filotheou.
At Filotheou we had long religious talks during the night with young monks, some originally from the United States. They didn’t wanna to talk about the past.
The last day we passed Iviron and walked back to Karyes which is here in the background.

In Karyes we were fascinated by the empty ruins but our time was up and so that ended my first Athos trip. In Ouranoupolis we took the car and returned back to Amsterdam after visiting Budapest.

Herman Voogd

Time Magazine 12-19 September 2016: an article about the pilgrimage of Putin to Athos May this year and about the role of Orthodoxy in the present Russian governement and society (avaiable at your local bookshop or Blendle).

Wim, 5/9

Sometimes a chain of unexpected events leads to a surprising outcome. That is how most of the inventions arise. A former colleague of mine wanted a fresh start on the labour market after her world tour and after the birth of her son. I could link her to a lunchroom where she worked a couple of weeks. While serving in the lunchroom she overheard a conversation of two guests who were talking about a lecture on Athos. She knew about my fascination for the Monks Republic and send me a message with a leaflet about the lecture. It happened to be on the next day in an old hospital building, now an exclusive housing project for the elderly. This is how we first met Raymond Geldermans, here with father Iakovos from Iviron in 1998. He gave his card and a couple of months later Herman and I had a long and interesting meeting with him in his apartment.

Mr. Geldermans has a lifelong fascination for the Holy Mountain. As a young man in the sixties of the last millennium he travelled to Athos the first time with his uncle. He studied Classical Languages and modern Greek. He worked as a highschool teacher, rector and translater in the southern part of Holland, where he still lives. He was chairman of foundation called Pokrof, dedicated to the Byzantine rite in the Dutch Catholic church.

His first visit was in 1960, and five more would follow. In the sixties it was highly recommendable for a catholic, as he is, to go personally to the cardinal, the highest catholic in the country (the cardinal was called Bernard Alfrink) for a letter of recommendation. With this recommendation mr. Geldermans acquired a letter from Patriach Athenagoras from Istanbul. This document gave him full access without any restrictions to all monasteries. This is how the diamonitirion looked like in the early sixties.

In those days there was a train from Utrecht to Athens. The 56 year old train ticket is still in his archive. So it was quite an intense travel experience for the young adult. Later it became much quicker and more comfortable to travel by air. Despite his responsible duties as rector of a Gymnasium (classical secondary education in the Netherlands) he found time to continue his travels, mostly during the holidays.

So the philosophical question is whether the chain of events that lead to our meeting were merely accidental beads on a chain or was it destined to happen this way? Anyway this is an airplane called Mount Athos. R. Geldermans took it in 1995. It was the Olympic Airways B 727-284 (Mount Athos).

Later we found a picture of the unfortunate end of the airplane when it was scrapped. Its cockpit lays down helplessly like an empty egg shell.

Planes have their lifecycle but the real mountain is still there. This is how it looked in January 1992 when Mr. Geldermans travelled between Dafni and Simonos Petras.

Mr. Geldermans  is a keen photographer and has taken thousands of pictures on his many travels. He gave us about 120 to digitalise (to start with, we hope). He uses the slides for his lectures on Athos. He has given many lectures for lay audiences. His keen sense of observation (he once saw original handwritings of Euripides wrapped in flower pots), his fascination for religion, his knowledge of the Greek language and his teaching skills make him a real storyteller. In the coming weeks and months we will show some more of his pictures and share some of his stories.The embarkment from Ouranopolis in 1960 (picture by R. Geldermans).A reasonable fare had to be payed to the ferryman during the crossing to the Holy Mountain. (Picture by R. Geldermans, 1960).

Herman Voogd & Bas Kamps

In this post I will show you some pictures from the backside of skiti Andreou, where not many people go. The pictures are from our last pilgrimage in September last year.The plan of skiti Andreou or Serail:

A. Entrance B. Athonias school C. Well/phiale D. Garden E. the main church from 1900 F.  Trapeza or dining hall in the basement of the church G. Guesthouse or Archontariki H. Graveyard I. Chapel on the topfloor – gangway on the groundfloor J. old chapel with wall paintings K. the ruined wing L. the iron gate from 1896 M. back entrance N. bells

We start this blog at building G, the guesthouse and I walked in the direction of D.The entrance to the guesthouse (G)The rules of the skete, written by elder Ephrahim.The corridor in the guesthouseView from our room: on the right the church and left is the graveyard (H).The graveyard (H) with a large monument: in the background a small church that is being renovated.The monument from 1902 in the graveyard.The church seen from the graveyard (H)The backdoor, leaving the guesthouse, at M on the plan above. The backdoor seen from outside. This part of the building is in a bad shape. The guesthouse lies on your left.This picture is taken near spot M in the direction of K. All these buildings are almost in ruins.Looking in the opposite direction: the guesthouse with balconies.Picture from the balcony towards spot KPicture from the same spot, with surroundingsThe opposite direction, agian a picture shot from the balcony.Near spot K: here only the church on the top is renovated, the rest of the buildings are not!A lot of waste lies squattered in the gardens: a barrel and wheels of a train?Building and door from 1898. The main church was finished in 1900.Old balconies rest on rusty iron bars…Looking back at building K and the guesthouse.Now we arrive at spot L on the plan: again, all buildings are not in use and almost in ruins here.An iron gate from 1896: this part is two years older than the buildings in the previous pictures.Detail of the gate with an small icon On the other side of the iron gate: another ruined building (D on the plan)With rusted iron doorsand a building without floors….Building D is in the right corner below on this aerial picture of the Serail.

Wim, 10/9

Yesterday morning at 7.29 h. fire raged in a forest area in the region of Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos.  The efforts to extinguish the fires by 18 fire figthers with 6 vehicles, togeter with monks, pilgrims and two helicopters, were hindered by the weather conditions, because of the strong winds (7 Beaufort), blowing in the Mount Athos area these days. According to the blog Athoszone.com the fire is under control now.

Wim, 11/9

In the summer holidays of 1994 one of the pupils of Dutch teacher Raymond Geldermans made a big decision. It was a hot summer in the Netherlands. Nelson Mandela had just become the first black president in South Africa. The first war in Chechnya broke out and Great Britain was finally connected with the Continent by a tunnel. In the meantime a Dutch boy travelled to the Holy Mountain.
After the summer holidays when the school started up, one boy was missing in the fourth class of the Gymnasium in Deurne. It was Quinten, then only fifteen years old. No one in the school knew about his plans, it came as a huge surprise, for the teachers and even for the rector. He had left for Karakalou, so informed the abbess of the Greek Orthodox monastery in Asten, Holland. In the same year also his mother chose for the monastic life in Kolomna in Russia; she lives as a monk until today. They were inspired by the monastery in Asten to the monastic life.
The court yard of Karakalou in the fall of 2013 (picture by Bas Kamps)
Nobody had known of his desire to become a monk. Raymond Geldermans often wondered if his stories about the Holy Mountain and his visits sparkled off Quintens interest.The katholikon of Karakalou (picture by Raymond Geldermans, april 1998).
The abbott of Karakalou got into contact with Raymond Geldermans. He inquired about Quintens education in the Netherlands. From there on more intensive conversations followed and they cumulated in a personal invitation to visit the novice and the abbot.
Quinten got his education in the Athos Academy, a building attached to the skete of Andreou, the Serail, which is situated very close to Karyes. The Academy was established in 1842.
Raymond Geldermans went in april 1998, with his son Micha, to the monastery of Karakalou. He was given a VIP-treatment. As Geldermans remarked he was received by the abbot as a second Aristoteles for his Alexander. The abbot certainly knew how to appreciate a teacher. He could visit every hidden corner in the monastery; from library to refectory, from candle workshop to wine cellar.Quinten in the library. The library holds 279 manuscripts, including 42 parchments. Of these parchments the codex Karakalou 11, a so-called lectionarium, is of very great importance and value. In the collection of the library are included a total of 2,500 printed books. To his surprise Geldermans found out that there was a certain system in the collection (picture by Raymond Geldermans, april 1998).Eating with Quinten in the refectory (picture by Micha Geldermans, april 1998). When Quinten said farewell to the worldly life he was given a new monastic name: Andreas.
A meeting with Quinten in the monastic wine cellar. (picture by Micha Geldermans, april 1998).
Quinten became head of the wood workshop and he developed quickly as skilled wood worker. He did important and necessary repair works on the monastery. After many years Quinten found out that the monastic life did not fulfill his deepest wishes. He was still very young of course and needed to discover more of the outside world. The wise abbot suggested that he should take up a study in theology in Moscow. So after six years on Athos he went to Russia. There a new life for Andreas started, so we were told. He married a Russian girl and the couple got three children. Later they moved to Belgium.
Later maybe more on Quintens extraordinary walk through life if we have more information.

Thanks to Raymond Geldermans for the pictures and the story,
Herman Voogd & Bas Kamps

Mount Athos, as seen through the eyes of contemporary Greek artist, Markos Kampanis.He is known for his murals in Simonas Petras but also for this large painting on the wall near the main gate of Vatopediou. During 2013 Markos Kampanis was commissioned to decorate the main entrance hall of Vatopaidi Monastery. The mural painted with silicate paints, shows the main monastic compound together with its cells and dependencies (Sk. Andreou on the left) on Mount Athos.
Kampanis is an artist, born in Athens in 1955. He has studied painting in London at Saint Martin’s School of Art. He works as a painter, print maker, book illustrator and church-mural artist.
 

Karyes, painted in his typical style,  a sort of contemporary cubism.

Dionysiou

Vatopediou seen from the archondariki.
He is also a gifted drawing artist. Sketch of Mylopotamos. When we visited this beautiful place in 2009 we were invited to see the modest but very nice library of Mylopotamos.
In the library Joachim of Mylopotamos showed us books but also linocuts by Kampanis.
Kampanis made all kinds of linocuts. This one of Mylopotamos belongs to the collection of Mylopotamos itself. At the moment Markos Kampanis shows his work at an exhibition in the US.

Herman Voogd