2239 – From Morfonou to Lakkou

The first walking stage we planned was to the Romanian skiti Lakkou (formal name: St. Demitrios of the Ravine). After the ferry had sailed away, back on its way to Ierissos, and peace had been restored, the three of us stayed behind at the small harbor of Morfonou. There was no one else there.

We had just been dropped off at this pier. There are a few dilapidated and closed buildings. A little further on a long shed. The Morfonou River, which flows through the ravine, also flows into the bay, that bears its name.

Pilgrim Herman views the vastness of the Thracian Sea from the narrow, concrete pier. Earlier we saw dolphins who followed the ferry. The clear sea water shows the rocks at the bottom.

We had started the climb to Lakkou. It was hot and humid. The dirt road slalomed upwards. The road offered little shade. Walking with our backpacks was difficult for us. We took it very easy, but very soon our backs were damp behind the backpack and sweat beaded on our faces. At the height of the Tower of Amalfi stood a ruined wall. Behind it an olive grove with the beautiful backdrop of the mountain ridge, leading to the top of the Holy Mountain.

An image of the partially collapsed wall. It was not clear to us what the original meaning of this wall was. Only the wall was visible. No other traces of buildings. The wall is located near the Amalfi Tower. Perhaps it has something to do with that. It is known that there once was a Roman Catholic monastery, more precisely a 10th century Benedictine monastery, of which only the tower now remains. The monastery has been of great importance in the 11th century. As an illustration of its importance: it was ranked 5th in the order of monasteries on Mount Athos. The name comes from the Italian Amalfi, the coastal strip south of Naples. The Roman Catholic monastery has disappeared since the 13th century. This wall may have been part of that.

Past the wall the road goes down slightly. There was a beautiful, well-maintained kelli, the first belonging to Lakkou, on display, named Ag. Triada. Pilgrim Jacques walks past.

The Amalfi Tower in all its splendor. At the bottom left you can just see the main coastal road between Iviron and Lavra. The dirt road, which unfortunately has destroyed large parts of the monopati between those places.

According to Veronica Della Dora, citing Evánghelos Livierátos, on this map of Utopia by Ambrosius Holbein from 1518, we see the Tower of Amalfi in the east. That’s a fascinating thought; Athos as inspiration for Utopia. Be that as it may, whenever I’m on Athos, I get that feeling that you’re not far from paradise.

I found a beautiful linocut by Markos Kampanis from 1998 of the Amalfi Tower. It is from his series of 32 linocuts of all the towers on Mount Athos.

This picture was published before on this weblog (post 1443). The photo shows the Amalfi Tower in 1986. The situation now is completely different. We went to investigate. We left our backpacks behind some bushes and walked down a side path that would lead us to the tower. However, the path came to a dead end on a steep slope with endless prickly blackberry forests. We looked to see if we could get around it. But that seemed impossible, at least without a machete. Our FOMA-loppers would also have been of good service. Good to see that nature has completely recovered here and has now become impassable for people. We were forced to leave the tower for what it was, we still had to walk a long way and we did not want to lose too much time with an uncertain journey to the foot of the tower.

On the way to Lakkou we found a garden hose spraying water. We refreshed ourselves underneath and cooled our heads and arms.

We met five cheerful and energetic Romanians. Still young boys, in the prime of their lives. We stayed and chatted with them for a while. They were curious about our presence in this place.

Lakkou is a maze of loose kalyva, loose houses in the skiti. We got hospitality in Annalipseos tou Kyriou. Skiti Lakkou was founded in 1760 by two monks from Moldavia. A maze of roads and monopati lead past the buildings. Lakkou is intersected by a deep gorge, from which it owes its name (Saint Demetrios of the Ravine). Signage is limited.

The Friends of Mount Athos team who do the trails can do some good work here. The red sign is almost consumed by the bark of the tree.

The route to the port of Morfonou was well indicated here. Pilgrim Herman, working his way up with his pilgrim stick. That day we would have to climb about 300 meters.

We were now quite exhausted from wandering. We asked for directions in one of the houses. A monk tried to explain it, but decided to act as a guide anyway. He kindly walked with us all the way, through the beautiful green gorge, to show us the house where there were rooms for guests. We were received very hospitably and led to a 6 person room.

Later that evening we had delicious food and drinks on this terrace. We had long and lively conversations with the two monks. One of the people there had worked for a long time in the Netherlands and Germany. So there were also plenty of worldly matters to discuss. The elder monk was quite playful with the cats and kittens.

The beautiful triangular garden with cheerful orange flowers and a shrub with yellow trumpet flowers. The leaves of the kiwi plant hang above. The guest rooms are in the building on the right on the first floor.

The view of the neighbor’s house. Incredible to think that in 1977 there was only one monk in all of Lakkou. It was only revived in 1985 under the leadership of Stefan Nutescu. He brought 12 monks to the skete. That was the beginning of the renewal of Lakkou.

A lot of smaller clouds were flocking together into a blanket for the night.

Of course we attended the service in the chapel by invitation. The two monks and three sweaty pilgrims in a sacred space. It was an intimate event. Being included in age-old rituals. Not for the public. But because it has to be done. Standing for a long time was difficult for me after the uphill walk.

The photo was taken after the service.