Visitors should take care to be properly clothed when appearing in public. A diamonitirion normally expires after four nights spent on the Mountain. If you wish to prolong your stay, you should apply to the Holy Community in Karyes where, if a good reason is given, permission will generally not be withheld. Sometimes an extension can be arranged through one of the monasteries. The common language in the Greek monasteries is Greek, in St Panteleimonos Russian, in Chilandari Serbo-Croat, in Zographou Bulgarian, and in Prodromos Romanian.
Some communities are more cosmopolitan than others, but many now include monks from overseas.
An aspect of the current renewal is that many of the Greek monks are better educated and better travelled than in the past. As a result of all these factors, English is now quite widely spoken on the Mountain. To have no Greek remains a disadvantage, but not nearly so much as it was a few years ago. Distances between monasteries Walkers may find it helpful to have some idea of how long it takes to get from one monastery to the next by land. Friends of Mount Athos Home Page Friends of Mount.