Evening star., 1923-08-03
ATHOS PENINSULA
BARS FEMALE SEX
Queer Community to Harbor
Greek Church Head Driven
From ConstantinopIe.

The Athos peninsula in Greece, to
which the Patriarch of CONSTANT
nople. head Of the Greek Church, has
retired because of pressure from the
Turkish government. is one of the
queerest communities and has one
OF the strangest governments in the
world" says a bulletin from the
washington, D. c.. headquarters of
the National Geographic Society
"On the 200-odd square miles of
this rough peninsula, which lacks lit
tie of being an island, it has been
unlawful since 1o45 for a woman to
set foot Moreover. so far is sex dis
elimination extended that female do
mestic animals are barred, Even the
eggs and milk that the good monks
or AthoS eat and drink must come
therefore, from farms safely across
republic that Athos harbors.
Monnsteries Number Twenty.
The entire peninsula is given I'D
to monasteries, of which there are
twenty, mostly on the slopes or cliffs
Of Mount Athos, the 6.350-foot prom
ontGry that rises near the outer end
OF the headland. There are one or
countries or in some cases the COM
munities that accept the Greek rite
Greece, Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria. Ana
tolia, Constantinople and many 9TH
ers. The religious communities of
Mount Athos were the pampered chill
dren of Byzantium in it's later days,
and great wealth was showered on
them by the emperorS, a number of
whom sojourned there. The monas-
teries are today one of the richest
repositories of the illuminated manu-
scripts. statues. paintings, mosaics
and other works of art produced in
the heyday OF that gilded eastern
Rome.
The monks of Mount Athos have
traditions of the beginnings of their
establishments as early as the days
of Constantine the Great, about 800
AID. But history tells of the founda-
monasteries, that of Lavra- in $50.
The latest was established in 1545. a
century after the fall of Byzantium.
Rough and Heavily Wooded.
"Athos is rough and heavily wooded.
with many coyes and indentations,
but with few landing places. The
monasterieS are in every conceivable
the sea, some on lofty crags over
hanging the beating surf, and others
inland on shoulders of the Sacred
Mountain. All consist of walled
spaces in which are churches. chapels.
dwelling houses or dormitories, guest
abodes, libraries and, in the case Of
the establishments under a non-indi
vidualistic regime. refectories. The
east has always been turbulent and
Mount Athos knows its east; SO all
the monasteries are olive groves,
vineyards and other fruit plantations.
worked by the monks and the lay
brothers who together make up prac-
Il,, xx,ho 1af, ~ \,
strange region.
The government of Mount Athos
has been republican in form for more
than $50 years-since 1860, six years
before the NormanS conquered Eng
land. Each monastery elects a rep
resentative, who is sent to the CEN
traly situated village of karyes,
which is the capital. There the dele
gate occupies a dwelling owned by
his abbey and constituting a sort of
resentatives sit as the Most Blessed
Assembly of the Sacred Mount. a par
Lament more venerable than that of
London. if that body be dated from
the recognition of the elective prin-
ciple. The executive of Mount Athos
! is body of five monks chosen by the
monasteries. voting in groups of four.
Four of these executives each keeps
seal of the republic and the fifth,
the secretary. carries handle which
locks the fragments properly to-
gether.
Long In Turkish Territory.
Until the Balkan wars which pre-
ceded the world war Mount Athos
was in Turkish territory. But ever
since the advent of the Turks in Eu-
rope the community has been privi-
legged. 1t submitted to the Sultan
Murad ii even before the fall of
Byzantium, and was dealt with len
iently, though required to pay
tribute. The monasterieS of Athos
for a long time had the only bells
permitted to ring in the whole Turk
ish empire, for bells are an abomina-
tion to the Moslem. But the use of
bells was limited by the Turks. and
the monks fell into the habit of
pounding suspended board instead.
In many of the Mount Athos monas-
! teres it is still the dull thumps and
whacks of such bell-substitute that
call the monks to rise in the morn
ings and to gather for religious serv-
ices"