The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-02-27
A Curious Community.

A Curious Community.
In an obscure corner OF Europe exists n
monastic body, the unique survivor of
remote past. The quaint customs and anti
quated rubric the intellectual and moral
isolation of those monasteres which fringe
the headland of Mount Athos, transport us
with the fidelity OF q photograph to the
darkest period of medieval life. Already,
however the outlines of the picture are
fading under the friction of civilization,
and IL may soon be difficult to trace it's
salient features.
Between the Cuffs OF Salonica and Com
tessa three huge tongues OF land project
into the Kgean Sea. The most easterly of
these promontorics, once named Acte, Is
bold, rocky ridge some forty miles long,
| rising from narrow isthmus to the sum
init of Mount Athos, ut least 5000 feet h gh.
Its sterile, impracticable peaks. and the
dense forests that clothe its lower slopes,
carly became a second Thebaid for as
cetc Chri. tanity. Through the troubled
epochs of the middle ages this peninsula
offered the Greeks OF Europe aud Asia the
seductions Of delightful climate and
| noble landscape, rs well as natural for
tress and secure asylum from the inva-
sions and tyranny that laid waste the Low
er Empire. AS early as the ninth century
the pilgrims and anchorites who swarmod
hither began TO group themselves In mo-
nastic communities, and founded a theo-
cratic republic which survived the Latin
and Ottoman conquests, and still lnaintains
an almost perfect autonomy. The policy
of this little State, dictated by an assembly
representing the twenty principal monas-
tcrics, has always been one of rigorous
exclusion. To this day no traveller is
allowed TO visit the district unless fortified
Ivy credentials from the Patriarch of Con-
stantinople.
The population OF Mount Athos now
reduced to some 1--WE thousand souls, Is
composed exclusively OF monks attached
to the order Of Saint Basil. Meat, tobacco,
aud the use of baths are strictly prohibited.
The friars wear gown of black woollcn
stun, n fun beard, and uushorn locks rolled
mp under tall. cylindrical cap of coarse
cotton. The most erotesque feature OF
their regulations, which during ten CEN
turtles has never been nfringed, forblds
the presence of any woman, female child,
or animal of the same dangerous sex,
within the sacred territory. The few Al
bantam soldiers, who constitute the sole lay
inhabitants of the district, must resign
themselves TO this puerile restriction,
which condescends to banish even the hen
and the cat.
The convent diet is frugal enough, con-
sisting mainly of boiled cucumbers and a
sal dine. with morsel OF black bread.
THIS scheme of living, however appears
| Il. Il.
of the hermits who occupy the Hottest and
most desolate recesses of the mountain.
Not a few of these emulate the penance OF
ST.. SIMEON STYLTEs, condcmning them
selves to some niche or crevice in a verti-
cal wall jutting over the sea, and de-
, pendent for subsistence on the offer ngs OF
fishermen, which have to be hoisted by
cords 10 their inaccessible eyries
, Many OF the monasteries are OF vast
size, and they derive n certain interest
from their antiquity, which sometimes
4 ascends TO the tenth century. The prevail
ing type, however, is mean and clumsy
3 and II is by no means architectural merit
which has tempted so many connoisseur'
TO undertake pilgrimage TO Athos. Blu
4 these sombre halls and filthy corridor
D preserve the sole vestiges OF Byzantine
e pictorial art, since elsewhere in what wa
a the Greek Empire, the Moslem trowel ha
sheathed with plaster the works OF famous
masters. The convent walls are enriched
3 with hundreds OF frescoes some from tn,
/. hand of PANsELINos, the Byzantine RA
a PHAEL, and all executed by his school
( which, contemporary with the Italian
s renaissance, was in some respects q worth,
q plemented by libraries of inestlmabl
t value which, in spite OF neglect and abus
n many thousand volumes having bee
n sold by weight to Turkish hucksteIs-stll
/ include ten thousand manuscripts. No
= seldom these date back TO the tenth cen
e fury, and are found to be written in Greek
d Cyrillic, Armenian, Arabic, and ever
70 species OF Oriental characters. In thi
e museum of curious learning some pre-
e cious fragments of classic authors have q
J. intervals been discovered.
r The stimulus and opportunity afforde
y by these artistic and literary stores ar
h wholly powerless to rouse the denizens G
10 Athos from their intellectual torpo
l. Their want OF acquaintance With any Lar
II guage except modern Greek is hr
f. drance TO conversation with stranger
l. but more serious obstacle is their ute
d poverty OF mind. When pressed wit
e questions respecting their history, the
Al books, their paintings. or the prospects {
lie their community, their normal reply is
i vague shake Of the head which betoker
It more eloqucntly than words the futil
rs recklossnoSs of mind resigned to ignC
I, rance. Their horizon Is strictly bounde
O. by the outlook from their promontorN
le The march Of civilization, the events, di
I'd coveres, and revolutions of recent time
IN totally fail to provoke their curiosit,
ne They move in ruts worn deep by cent?
90 ries, ana present in pale but accura
ly colors the physiognomy, manners, ar
lis habits Of thought which stamped the sta
We nant byzantine world.
IL The Greek community Of Mount Attic
ais however, is in process Of swift decay. III
~; confscation Of their most valuable estat