The main church (E on the plan), build in 1900, was until recently the biggest church on the Balkan. It is enormous and ment for large groups of pilgrims, like the ones you see below on the historic picture from 1900.The same spot as the black and white picture above, seen from building J on the plan.

In this post I will show you the pictures that I took while walking around the church.This is a picture of the most ruined wings of the North/West side of the skete, shot behind building J. If you turn your head to the right you will see this part of the NW wing:NW wing of skiti AndreouAnd here we see the NW wall of the main church on your right hand. Behind pilgrim Jizte in his blue shirt is the gate to the guest quarters and right from him is the entrance to the trapeza in de basement of the church.On this photo I already walked around the corner of the church and took a shot of the backside. Above the arches this text shows up, which I could not read/translate.When you turn the next corner at the backside of the building and go down a bit, you see renovation activities of the South/East wing and again a part of the backside of the church.  A view of the South side of the church with the bronze bells at spot N and the entrance (A) on the left.Here you see another text inscribted in the wall: it must be in Russian. Who can help translating these texts?

The South wall of the church and bells – N (photo by Jitze Bakker)An iron door in Andreou.These are the steps that lead to the main church, with the gate A in the background. Notice the monk with the wooden leg, who slept that night on a bench in the corridor of the guesthouse!Inside the main churchThe tomb of an important member of the skete (who?).Ringing is the bells is not without danger: protection is needed, to prefend damage to the ears, even in monastic life!

Time for a good meal in the basement of the church.

Wim, 21/9

Today we take a closer look at this extraordinary building (letter J on the plan – see last post 1849). Most visitors pass this building and don’t pay attention to it because it’s old, partly in ruins and it has been closed for public as long as I know. But last year I noticed that behind the building renovation activities were carried out, so I decided to have a closer look and I climbed the white stone stairs, that lies besides the red coloured wall. This is what I saw:I did know if it was permitted to be here, but because nobody saw me, so I took the opportunity to sneak into the chapel, where I found this:To my surprize the walls of the chapel were completely decorated with paintings, which is unusually for Russian churches (on Mount Athos, where the interior mostly is white)! The paintings and the rest of the interior – the iconostasis – were also being renovated. Here are some more pictures of the wall paintings:Through this door I entered the building.Details of the Northern part of the chapel, with apostel Marcus and Saint Antonin .. on the left side.Details of the South part of the chapel, in the direction of the main gate, with Saint Matheus above the iconostasis.Above on the ceiling: image of God the FatherBright blue, green red and yellow colours appear on the walls!

Not only these paintings were very surprizing, but the position of the building J, compared with the others surrounding buildings, rose questions. Why is it slightly turned and why is a part of the building totally lost/in ruins? And how old could this building be? I had to dig into my photo archive to get answers, and I found these images that helped me. But first another (panoramic) picture of the building J and its surroundings.This is how it looked like in 1972: the colour red on the outside wall is visible and most of the plaster is intact (photo by Raymond Geldermans)Andreou seen from the air, I assume this from the same period 1960/70, although on this picture I can not see the white stone stairs next to building. The stairs might have been build a little later, maybe because of the fact that the adjacent building collapsed and the entrance to the chapel had to be restored? Lets have a look at some older images:This the oldest image I found, a drawing. Here  in 1841 Skiti Andreou excists of only one building: our red chapel!  There are no stairs next to the chapel and the adjacent building still stands: to reach the chapel you had to go through this building.

 Another picture of the old chapel in Andreou, probably also from 1841 (look at the tree/cypress left from it).The first picture of the old chapel / skiti Andreou in 1859/60.On this postcard (a drawing) the old chapel is to be seen at the red arrow, but now the surrounding buildings have appeared. The picture below shows the excact same situation. The Western wing is still under construction.

This litho Starchenkov dates from 1872 and shows almost the same situation as the postcard above.On this aerial picture the large church, finished in 1900, is ready. And on this litho form the Feigl book you can see the large church with the old chapel in front of it. All these pictures prove according to me that “the old chapel”was the first building of skiti Andreou and that it dates from at least 1841 (or earlier). The adjacent building, where the monks lived, clearly had a minor quality and it collapsed after the building slowly got deserted after 1920, when the Russians no longer could sent any novices to Athos. Because of bad maintenance this part of the building slowly collapsed and in the beginning of the 60/70-ties of the last century it fell into ruins. Soon after came the necessity to build the stone stairs (with an iron stairs on top of it – see the first picture in this post), to be able to reach the old chapel.

In 2015 the restauration activities were in full progress. I wonder how it look like in a few years: will it be restored according to the situation in 1841, with the old images as shown above as an example? When time comes I hope to show you the results.

Wim Voogd, 28/9/2016

When Raymond Geldermans travelled to the Holy Mountain in 1972 and in 1982 he found the skiti of Andreou, alias the Serail, completely in ruins. As Wim recently pointed out in recent posts the skiti still has its ruins. But in those days it was practically left alone, it was dying. The complex was about to collapse.
This picture is taken in the spring of 1972. The serious condition of the building is obvious. The stairs were covered with shrubberies. The building on the left was literally falling apart (picture by Raymond Geldermans, april 1972). How could this happen?
The Serail was a Russian settlement, since the late nineteenhunderds, and had its heydays before the Russian Revolution. Grand Duke Aleksey Alexandrovitch, son of Tsar Alexander II lay the first stone of the big church on the 16th of june 1867. The imposing size of the complex, by far the biggest on Athos was a horror to the Greek, who nicknamed it the Serail, the palace. From the 1917 revolution the influx of Russian monks dried up due to travel restrictions in the communist era. In the sixties only one Russian monk lived in the skiti. When he passed away the complex was left completely empty. Later it was taken over by the Greek who started restoration work.
For Geldermans it was an intense Pompeï experience. As he wrote: In ictu oculi, in the twinkling of an eye, all life is petrified. There was a shoemakers workshop, a chemist and much more. As if the monks could return anytime.
A misty morning walk towards the Serail. This picture has got a special quiet and mysterious atmosphere. Exactly how a walk on the Holy Mountain should be (picture by Raymond Geldermans, april 1982).A warning sign posted on the entrance door. The sign reads: “Attention, danger, death”, as if death is an infectious disease you have to be warned for. (picture by Raymond Geldermans, april 1982). In an attempt to find the exact location of the ossuary, Geldermans came to the conclusion that is must have been building D in Wims recent post. It is the L-shaped building on top of the map. Nowadays all the floors have disappeared and so, probably, have the human remains.
An enormous collection of skulls piled up in an open cupboard. Eleven layers and at least twenty skulls per board. So hundreds of them, several generations of monks. It seems to be the complete group of Russian monks who worshipped, prayed and worked here since the middle of the 19th century. Memento Mori (picture by Raymond Geldermans, april 1982).The skull and bones of the last monk, as Geldermans called this picture,  collected in a rusted olive oil can. Probably after someone collected the remains to store it somewhere. It looks as if it was forgotten and left alone. Contemporary Pompeï. When there was no living soul left there anymore. (picture by Raymond Geldermans, april 1982)
Many skulls were displayed on shelves….some were put to rest on a chair…
And the last ones seems forgotten.
Normally a deceased monk will stay for 3 years or longer in a grave. When there is need for the grave because another father has died, monks dig up the bones and skull and bring the remains to an οστεοφυλάκιο ossuary. Name and day of death are put on the forehead of the skull (all above pictures by Raymond Geldermans, april 1982).A lot has changed since those dying days. Nowadays the domes and crosses glow again in the morning sun as signs of a brighter future (picture by Bas Kamps, September 2013).
Bas Kamps & Herman Voogd

Photo by Gerard Koolschijn: Sk. Andreou, the red chapel,  in 1970 with Dutch writer Nicolaas Matsier (Tjit Reinsma) sitting on the stairs of the katholicon.

Dutch writer and translater Gerard Koolschijn wrote in his autobiographical novel Geen Sterveling Weet how he visited the Russian skiti of Andreou (Serail) in the early 70ties. This is what he wrote (in Dutch):
“Ik kon geen monnik meer zien. Maar het Russische Sérail mocht ik niet overslaan. Het lag op mijn pad, dichtbij het hoofddorp. Er was geen portier. Op de binnenhof stond tussen meniekleurige cellengebouwen en gastenverblijven een kerk als een kathedraal. Uitgemergelde katten schoten onder omrasteringen weg. Door het gras liep een smal, platgereden spoor naar de marmeren trap van het hoofdgebouw. De hol klinkende gangen hingen vol schilderijen van tsaren en ankerende stoomschepen. Op de trapleuningen stonden lantaarntjes. De eetzaal voor vijftienhonderd monniken lag vol rottende bladeren. Ik trof de oude werkplaatsen open, waar reusachtige spinnenwebben van tafels naar werkbanken, van krukken naar kabinetten waren geweven. Tandartsapparatuur hing nog boven een patiëntenstoel als een divan, met een ongeëvenaard uitzicht op de Berg. Achter de glazen ruitjes van de apotheek zaten rammelende grijze brokjes en knisperend gifgroen gruis in vergeeld geëtiketteerde flesjes. Langs een wenteltrap naar het souterrain afgedaald, vond ik in een duistere ruimte laarzen in alle maten en kleuren, ingezakt, gekromd of omgevallen, verspreid over de vloer, alsof een peloton soldaten ze in alle haast had uitgetrokken. In de schoenmakerij waren laden vol schoensmeer, lijmpotjes, kwasten. Mijn enige paar was volkomen versleten. De schoen waarvan de zool al losliet trok ik uit. Ik haalde uit een gereedschapskist een grote schaar, knipte de hard geworden lijm met ijdele hoop in stroken, propte die tussen de schoen en zool en zette de hele zaak in een klem. Op één schoen hinkte ik terug naar een bank op de binnenhof. Bij het stenen waterbekken naast me was in de houten drinkbeker ‘Jezus Christus overwint’ gekrast. Kraaien krasten op de ingevallen daken.De enorme kloosterkerk was naar verhouding gaaf, de kruisen op de koepel leken met rode, lichtblauwe en groene juwelen bezet. In de toren waren de verroeste klepels van de manshoge klokken tegen de binnenwand vastgezet. De verleiding was groot ze los te maken en met veel kabaal de doden op te roepen.
Ik haalde mijn gelijmde schoen op en duwde voorzichtig de enorme kerkdeur open. In het portaal hoorde ik tot mijn verbazing ijl gezang. Geruisloos opende ik een binnendeur. Goud en zilver blonken me tegen, kroonluchters en kandelaars. Op mijn tenen liep ik naar een muurstoel. Vier hoogbejaarde monniken stonden voor een gigantische, barokke iconenwand naast één stokoude, kromgebogen voorzanger. Ze keken niet om. Hun zachte klanken, niet nasaal zoals in de andere kloosters, maar melodieus, vulden de geweldige ruimte met een hartverscheurende heimwee. Ik zag ze als jongetjes spelen in hun dorp op een eindeloze Russische vlakte, onwetend dat ze hier als grijsaards zouden sterven”.
From right to left Wim Oudshoorn who made the black and white photographs of the church above,  a smiling Gerard Koolschijn and Nicolaas Matsier (Tjit Reinsma) with their schoolteacher Herman Hissink (far left) in the early seventies somewhere on the Athos peninsula.

Thanks to Gerard Koolschijn

Herman Voogd

The ossuary of Andreou: also see the more recent pictures of Raymond Geldermans from April 1982 in post 1851.The old trapeza: this mist be the oval room on the picture below, taken from the garden. Notice the wall paintings: nowadays they disappeared totally (see picture below)!Today the old trapeza looks like this. How can it be that all paintings are gone? Nothing is left, not even a fragment! Did they just fall from the walls or were they stolen? Historical picture of the Serail on 5th of July 1905 (Feast of Athanasius): in front of the trapeza numerous monks sit in the courtyard and have their meal in the open air.The abbot in 1908, Archimandrite Seraphim of the Serail. At that moment the power of this settlement was at its height. The picture is made by the “house-photographer” of the Skiti.Official visitors/military in the main church: one of them is allowed to stand in the abbots chair, just like president Putin last May in the Protaton. Group picture on 15 June 1914Workers/monks in front of the iconostasis in the main churchThe bakery: in the background a painting, maybe with saint Silouan? Carpenters in their workshopTailors

The last Russian monk in Andreou, summer 1965 – from the Feigl book about Athos (Forhoelle des Paradies). Soon after he died and the Serail was handed over to Vatopediou, the owner of the land of Skiti Andreou.

Wim Voogd, 2/10

(Picture by Raymond Geldermans, July 1960)
In July 1960, when Raymond Geldermans pilgrimated from Iviron to Pantocrator he found a uninhabited house. In its neighbourhood he saw two monks. One of them was Russian. They started talking. The monk didn’t seem to have any knowledge of the end of WW II, 15 years earlier. His outside world was practically non-existent. Like the ignorant Japanese soldiers who were found on a remote island in the Philippines even 60 years after the war, unaware of the peace. While giving his blessings he offered Raymond a cool glass of water, which came as a gift from heaven. The monk used a lobster can from California to hoist the fresh water from the source.
In the picture he seems to make a gesture of a true holy man. His white hair and beard form a union. He made a little knot at the end of his beard. He greets us in a humble and friendly way. He probably was a gyrovague or siromahki, a wandering monk who relies on the hospitality of his guest. They don’t belong to any monastery. They don’t have a home. They go from monastery to monastery.
We hope that this man will not be forgotten. This picture makes us remember this man. There might be people who know more about him. We would like to give him a name, we would like to give him an identity. So we can truly remember him and call his name.
Thanks to Raymond Geldermans for his inspiration; the picture and the story.

Bas Kamps

According to Alex the man on the photo is starets Tikhon, the spiritual father of Paisios the Agioritis

In 1968, Father Paisios went to Stavronikita Monastery, where he assisted in its renovation by offering labor work as well as spiritual advice. In the Holy Cross cell of Stavronikita Monastery, located near by, lived Father Tychon, the ascetic, who was also a spiritual father. (Ft. Tychon was born in 1884 in Novia Mihaloska of Russia. He was a very gifted man and lived a strict ascetic life). Elder Paisios often visited him for spiritual advice and helped him with the service of Divine Liturgy by serving as chanter. Quite frequently, the service was in spiritual contemplation, which sometimes lasted half an hour. He saw, as he himself confessed, the orders of the angels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim glorifying God. Father Tychon tonsured Elder Paisios and gave him the Great and Angelic Schema.
When Father Tychon’s life was coming to an end, (ten days before he passed away), he asked the Elder to stay by his side and take care of him. Paisios served Father Tychon with great self-sacrifice, offering him anything he could to comfort him. Father Tychon used to tell him: “Paisios, our love is precious. My sweet Paisios, our love, my child, will last unto the ages of ages.” He asked him to stay in his cell after his death and promised that he will visit him every year. Father Tychon fell asleep on September 10, 1968, two days after the celebration of the Nativity of the Holy Theotokos, as he himself had predicted, being well equipped and ready for his journey to eternity.
Father Paisios settled down at the cell of the Holy Cross, according to the wish of Father Tychon, where he stayed until 1979.

Text from http://www.pigizois.net

Timothy and Giannis showing us this picture:

Herman Voogd

Sofar we discovered three Dutch monks who lived on the Holy Mountain. All three in Karakalou: Pachomios, K.  and someone unknown.
This is the story of fourth Dutchman on Athos, Hilarion of Xeropotamou.

Guestmonk Pachomios here in the garden of Karakalou with my brother Wim. Originaly he came from the former Dutch colony Surinam but grew up in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Young Dutchman K.  stayed several years in the monastery of Karakalou. His story can be read in post 1847. (picture by Micha Geldermans). K.  went to Karakalou in 1994 because  a Dutch monk already lived there. Unfortunately this Dutchman fell from a balcony two days after K.  arrived at the monastery and died! (this story in Koert Ter Veens book Athos Monnikeneiland blz. 281 2001)

.
Dutch musician and conducter  Jan van Epenhuysen (1906 -2000) of an orchestra (nowadays called Noord Nederlands Orkest ) in the north of the Netherlands retired in 1961 and went to a Orthodox community near Paris and in the late nineteen 60ties to Mount Athos. He was married and had three daughters.
Jan van Epenhuysen (left in the corner with beard) here at an easter dinner at the Orthodox community of Vanves near Paris in the sixties. He changed his name to Hilarion.
According to writer Koert ter Veen Van Epenhuysen was known as Hilarion of Xiropotamou. On the photos the courtyard and entrance of this monastery. I assume he spend the rest of his life in this monastery but  I found no more information about him.Another image of Xiropotamou in 2013 during the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Hilarion died in 2000 at the age of 94. He was probably buried on the Holy Mountain. In the Netherlands there is this  familygrave with a stone:
In rememberance
J. van Epenhuysen
Hieromonk Hilarion
11 sept 1906 – 19 oct 2000

Herman Voogd

To continue the travel- and photoblog from our September 2015 pilgrimage we took the early morning bus from Iviron to Karyes and then later another bus to the harbour in Dafni, where we wanted to sail to Simonos Petras. I had been there in the winter of 2014/2015 with my sons for a quick visit, because of the extreme weather conditions. And we had to hurry to be sure we were on time in Grigouriou before the gate would close at sunset. Now we were back in very different weather and time conditions. And we planned to have more time to wonder around.The arrival at the arsanas of Simonos Petras with the Agia Anna. The rock of Peter above. The monastery towers over the harbour building. The monastery itself is compared with the Potala in Lhasa by Robert Byron (not the Lord). A striking similarity.

A steep but stable path, designed like stairs, leads to the monastery 330 meters uphill. No road from the arsanas, only a path. There is some shade along the way. Half way there is a small chapel and a place to rest and drink some water. Here is the crossing to Grigouriou. The place where we left our backpacks in good confidence.After the long climb, sometime with hairpins, the complex finally appears in its full glory. The low perspective makes it even more imposing. In the front we find the neat and well-kept vegetable gardens. There is a lot of repair work on the left hand site of the building. Even Peters rock is completely covered in very high scaffolds. As if even the rock on which the monastery is build needs to be strengthened.
A closer look at the peculiar iron crosses on the wooden entrance gate of the kitchen garden. Walking further up on the right hand side there is a beautiful long pergola with ripe grapes and kiwis that leads to the guesthouse. We first had some water and a coffee there before we explored the complex.
We wanted to go to the kiosk for the view of the monastery with the sea as the backdrop. This is a view from the hill side looking down to the complex. The impressive triple aqueduct can be seen clearly also on this photo by Robert Byron made in 1926.
Zooming in on the well-restored aqueduct that brought in fresh water for ages. It was once a Bulgarian monastery, then later the monks came from Ionia, but recently the monks left Meteora in Greece, to repopulate it after the complex was almost uninhabited in the seventies of last century.
The superimposed building on the rock. Along the building is a wooden corridor. The monastery suffered in its history at least three great fires, in 1581, in 1626 and in 1891. After the last fire it was rebuild to the way we perceive it now.The narrow outside corridor can be walked but it asks for trust in the construction and trust in the Maker and an absolute absence of fear of heights. It gives access to the katholikon and the refectory. This is the first of the two copper bells.The second copper bell on the other site of the balcony. It has an stunning view of the sea, deep down. It is too far down to hear the waves. You’re as close to heaven as you can get here.

The small and intimate refectory. We tried to get a place to sleep here both in winter and during this trip. But due to renovations and restrictions we couldn’t stay. You need good relations to stay there for the night; others succeeded where we failed. So we had to go all the way down again to Grigouriou, which is on sea-level.
Bas Kamps
October 2016

On September 28th 2015 we walked from Karyes to Simonos Petras. The hike started on the main road from Karyes to Dafni and the totall distance was 13,3 km. It took us – including breaks – 4 hours.  Check this route here on Wikiloc. The hike started at 269 meters and the highest point was 785 meters (at V on the map above).The starting point: the capital Karyes, here the Protaton church and bell tower seen from the graveyard.Photo 1: looking back on the main road to Dafni in the direction of Karyes. The road going uphill leads to Maroudá and Vatopedi, following ‘the ridge’.Photo 2: the turn towards Simonos Petras: here we leave the main road to Dafni and take a turn and follow the dirt road. The sign above shows many possibilities: back to Karyes, down to Koutloumousiou, futher to Xiropotamou or continue the road to Simonos Petras. Immediately after the junction from the main road you will see these two FoMA-signs: straight on towards Simonos Petras and left towards Koutloumousiou. to Ag. Gabriel (a kellion?)Photo 3: walking over the ‘the ridge’ towards Simonos Petras: the road is well kept, some parts have concrete a pavement.Everywhere we are surrounded by large, empty forrests, this house above is the only building we saw in this area.Photo 4: at this spot you follow the road leading to Simonos Petras. The old wooden signs are difficult to read: they show the road to Filotheou.At the same spot you can also choose to got to Lacu skete (see the blue sign).This large forrestry map (dasokomikos) tells you you’re entering the Simonos Petras area. Here we reach the highest point of this hike.Photo 5: the junction of roads leading to Grigoriou, Filotheou and Simonos Petras/Dafni.The view from here, Dafni is somewehere behind the hills.Photo 6: the junction of 6 dirt roads: we continue our walk in a straight line. Forrestry activities Photo 7: arriving at kelli Ag. Dimitrios, where the monopati starts. A large kitchen garden on the picture above.The beginning of the monopati. Going down towards Simonos Petras The monopati: quiet place to rest next to a pond Near the monastery the vegetation gets less dence and the monopati ends here. When you look at the other site, this view shows up:Simonos Petras! The monastery and the mountain.Arriving at Simonos Petras: behind these roofs is the guesthouse at your right hand.

Wim Voogd, 30-10

This film is black and white, 13′.35 minutes long, with a long interview with a French speaking monk Pavlos Lavriotis – 1885 – 1980 (photo above) and images of the last remaining six inhabitants of skiti Andreou, see pictures below.A monk from Mongolia, who deserted from the Red Army at the age of 20 and fled to Mount Athos.

Wim, 30/10

One of the intriguing things on Mount Athos is the healthy food the monks eat. Many books has been published about this subject, for a good recipe look here. But where do the cooks of the monasteries get their ingredients from?

In Simonos Petras it is obvious: one of the first things you do when you visit the monastery is have a look from the magnificant balconies. And when you look down you wil see this: The Kitchen Garden: vegetable transports by cable! Down below you see the large kitchen gardens, with glass houses, breeding grounds and fruit and olive trees.This is where the iron cable ends, in the middle of the vegetable garden. Whenever I visit Athos I bring some vegetable seeds from Holland and tulips from Amsterdam, and last year I wanted to present my gift to the gardener of Simonos Petras, but unfortunately he was not in his garden. But a friendly Greek young man, who helped the gardener took the gift and he promised that he would hand it over the gardener-monk. The kitchen garden: left from the setting sun is the gardeners house.The wooden stairs in the garden – photo Jitze Bakker

Kiwi’s growing in the garden.Seed beds: lettuce and other vegetables.The gardeners houseGreen beens and African marigolds.Vines in the garden of Simonos Petras. And by the way, I almost forgot to tell: this is one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. The beauty is so intense, for me it is not possible to find the right words.

Wim Voogd, 4/11/2016

In 1853 photographer Ernest de Caranza and artist Emile Charles Labbé (probably both sitting next to the ship in the harbour of Pantocratoros)) visited Mount Athos and made a series of photographs to make an album compromising 87 salt prints flush-mounted to card.
Travel notes and letters suggest that the trip was allowed by Sutlan Abdulmecit I and that the album was intended  to Empereur Napoléon III.
Esfigmenou
The existence of these photgraphs was known but they were kept by a family. Now they are public and it is quite a discovery. The collection was sold in different lots by Sotheby’s november 2016.
Historically it is a very interesting set of photograph. Here Vatopedi wth the ruins of the academy on the hill.
The same ship as in the first photo in the arsanas of Pantocratoros

The arsanas of Lavra (Mandraki) on photo and negative.

There is a whole serie of photographs of Konaki in Karyes.
Sografou

Lavra

Probably Koutloumousiou

Iviron

Xiropotamou
Arsanas Dionysiou

Dionysiou

The entrance of Vatopedi

Herman Voogd

Xiropotamou in 1853. Photo by Ernest de Caranza and Emile Charles Labbé.
Watch the figure in the tower on the right.
Xiropotamou in 2013. Photo by H. Voogd. The towerclock is not round shaped anymore and they plastered the church a bit.

The Bulgarian monastery of Sografou (Zograf) in 1853. Photo by Ernest de Caranza and Emile Charles Labbé. Unique image without the prominent refectory. Below the situation a couple of years later 1867 – 1872. Now they have build an entrance tower with a cupola rooftop but still no refectory extension.

Sografou in 1941 by German scientist prof. dr. Dölger. Here the refectory is build.

This is how Sografou looks nowadays.

Herman Voogd

This beautiful film about Epifanios and with spectacular drone shots from the Holy Mountain was removed from YouTube yesterday, but luckily our Athos friend Vasilis found it again on Vimeo:

The film is published one month ago. This is a part of the text on Vimeo: “Father Epiphanios, monastic figure, renowned chef and winemaker, introduces us to the beauty of Mount Athos and reveals the secrets of the Athonian Gastronomy”: read more here.

Wim (thanks again Vasilis), 20/11

Looking up at the monastery of Pantocratoros from the small harbour. 2015
Almost the same spot in 1853Ruined house in 2016Not the same house as above but almost the same spot. 1853
Compare the wall on the right with the above image
Ruins at the arsanas
The Pantocratoros boathouse.

In the right corner the harbour of Pantocratoros in 1744 by Barsky

Herman Voogd

Herman has already shown some of the oldest pictures of Athos by Ernest de Caranza & Emile Charles Labbé. The pictures were taken in the year 1853. Today we will focus on some of their early images from Simonos Petras. Look for the differences compared to some recent photos from 2015. A mere 162 years between the scenes. Imagine the quiet life then without internal combustion engines. No noise from cars. No motor boats, no mopeds, no chain-saws, no aircrafts. That noise machine was invented much later in 1876 by Nicolaus August Otto.The steep ravine under the complex is even more impressive because of all the ladders on the rocks. They are placed in a chaotic way as if raiders were bound to invade. The impressive aquaduct is clearly visible from this sea side. The gardens under the fortress seem non-existent yet.Nowadays the aquaduct is hidden behind a number of new blocks right from the main building. The terraced garden is now well kept.The view from behind the monastery with the aquaduct on the left and the entrance gate. An almost grim medieval block on the top of a very steep slice of rock.

The negatives are numbered. This one has number 77. We found many more negatives. I turned them into positives. We will show some of the positives in the times to come. It is amazing that all these negatives where shot on Athos just 13 years after the invention of the calotype process by the Englishman William Fox Talbot in 1840. It underlines the significance of the Holy Mountain.
This perspective on Simonos Petras matches nicely with a slide by Raymond Geldermans. The monastery looks arisen from the marble. The rocks embrace and lift the structure. The rocks look like flames. Geldermans took this picture during his pilgrimage in January 1992.

Bas Kamps

Simonospetras is build on a rock, as you see on the pictures and plan below:

The plan of the monastery is quite complex, because of its many floors. These plans will help you find your way:Building M1 is the guesthouse, just outside the monastery and near the gate. At B7 on the right side of this picture a new guesthouse is build, that should have been ready this summer. In 2015 they had room for 15 to 20- pilgrims, after these quarters are finished the number of guests can increase to 30/40 pilgrims.Building activities at spot B7 and the entrance to the monastery (at spot Delta).Behind the guesthouse M1: a view over the hills with some houses for workers along the road. I tried in vain to find a path in the valley going uphill.After entering the gate the stairs go up andthis is what you see looking down towards the entrance. Today this corridor is much lighter than 26 years ago, with four windows.Here a picture from 1989 taken on the same spot. Because there were only two windows it was much darker (and spookier) on entering the monastery.After signing in we received a very warm welcome by father Michael, who came from Lebanon three years ago. He told us that 5 fathers passed away in 2014, one of them drowned. Another monk died on 15th of August 2015.The traditional Tsipourou, loukoumi and water was served by father Michael.In the waiting room several monasteries were painted on the ceiling: 1. Vatopediou, 2. Xeropotamou, 3. Megistas Lavras, and 4. Grigoriou.The kiosk outside the monastery: a place to smoke.Monks enjoy a cup of tea with honey.The left side of the Katholikon (building Gamma)The KatholiconThe well from 1904The church and buildings Z1 and Z2. If you take the stairs going down, you’ll see this hallway.Hallway on a lower level.With stairs leading to the gardens. Simonospetras at dusk, September 20th 2015.

Wim Voogd, 29-11

It took me some time to find out where on The Holy Mountain this building and chapel is located. The photo is from 1853.  Approximately 30 years later the building is replaced by a similar house which you still can see today. Nowadays the chapel is still here but in a deplorable state. Who recognizes the spot? Our reader silviucluci had the correct answer.
Here is the same house and chapel in front of the entrance of the  Bulgarian monastery of Sografou. This photo was made between 1867 and 1872. A little later the building was replaced by another long stretched building in what became a kind of medical center or little hospital for monks and pilgrims. Nowaday it is completly restored and made into a guesthouse for pilgrims. They did not restore the chapel yet, at least not in 2015.The Chapel outside the monastery  in 2015 with probably the same two cypresses as in 1853.The chapel upclose is in decay but looks beautifull.
The restored guesthouse looks brand new compared to the state in 2009.
Here the post about the restoration.

Herman Voogd

The courtyard of Gregoriou in 1853. Maybe the oldest or one of the oldest photographs of this monastery. The roofs of the exo-narthex in the middle and the refectory on the right are covered with slate. In 2011 the roof is made from lead and on the left 5 mosaic icons are placed. The design of the cupolas has changed also.On one of the last days in 2014 it started snowing and the roofs and courtyard turned slowly white. Some of the monks couldn’t resist the fresh snow and for a short moment the courtyard was a childrens playground. Read and see more about this remarkable moment here.This is the courtyard in 2015 in the conventional Athos manner. A monk is beating the semantron to announce that the service is about to begin.

Herman Voogd

When was the right wing added?
1744 drawing by Barsky.

1853 one of the first photographs by Ernest de Caranza and Emile Charles Labbé.
1867 1872 by Russian monks of the Panteleimonos monastery.
1883 by Athelstan Riley
1906 postcard
Early 20th century, unknown photographer. Simonos Petras was rebuild  in 1893 – 1902. Probably the right wing was added in those years.
1926 – 1930 by Robert Byron
21st century by Wim Voogd

Voor Gerard Koolschijn
Herman Voogd