It is probably of all ages that fathers bring their sons to the Holy Mountain. Tenth-century regulations for the Lavra and for Athos in general forbid the entrance for ” beardless men”. But the Gospel said: “Let the children come to me,” so children appear quite regularly within the boundaries of the Holy Mountain. I have a feeling that there are more children visting Athos with their fathers then in past years.
Nowadays (sept. 2015) the youngsters are even dressed like monks. This boy is enjoying his soft drink waiting for the ferry at Dafni. In the right hand corner a boy is looking in the direction of the camera.
This boy peers over sea also fully dressed up. It seemed that they had no problem with their outfit. They got a lot of attention from the religious men. 
I didn’t see children in religious clothing before on my trips to Mount Athos. It seems like a new trend. I got the impression that most of these children were Russian.
These two boys took the boat to the arsanas of Sografou.
Herman Voogd (here with son in winter)
