This is a (hopefully) mini series of miniposts about ministates, in somewhat Wikipedia-like form.
Monastic State of the Holy Mountain (Greek: Αὐτόνομη Μοναστικὴ Πολιτεία Ἁγίου Ὄρους) is a country situated in the Mount Athos, a peninsula in northeastern Greece. It is an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
Mount Athos is home to 20 monasteries under the direct theological jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, however it is fully sovereign in temporal affairs.
Access
The number of daily visitors to Mount Athos is strictly regulated, and all are required to obtain a visa, valid for a limited period. Only males are permitted to visit the territory, which is called the "Garden of Virgin Mary" by the monks, with Orthodox Christians taking precedence. Residents on the peninsula must be males aged 18 and over who are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and also either monks or workers.
Citizenship is granted only to persons leading a monastic life, upon admission as novices or monks in one of the monasteries situated in the country. According to the Ouranoupolis treaty, citizens of Mount Athos are automatically eligible for Greek citizenship (but they have to apply for it). This extends to former Mount Athos citizens, if they do not hold citizenship of any other state upon losing Mount Athos citizenship.
Foreign relations
Mount Athos is a very reclusive country, maintaining official diplomatic relations only with Greece. Its embassy to Greece is located in Thessaloniki. Although the Ouranoupolis treaty stipulates that the diplomatic relations with other countries are conducted by Greece on behalf of Mount Athos, the monastic republic has not established diplomatic relations with any other country.
Mount Athos is not a member of the United Nations Organization. It applied for an observer status in the Universal Postal Union in 1976, but asked Greece to act on its behalf and in 1978 suspended its application. However, the country issues its own postage stamps, which are valid only for posting to Greece and Mount Athos itself. Due to their rarity, they are quite valued by collectors.
Administration and organization
Athos government has the form of the "Holy Community" (Ιερά Κοινότητα – Iera Koinotita) which consists of the representatives of the 20 Holy Monasteries, having as executive committee the four-membered "Holy Administration" (Ιερά Επιστασία – Iera Epistasia), with the Protos (Πρώτος) being its head. The political system does not implement separation of powers, the Protos is thus both the head of government and the head of state.
In each of the 20 monasteries – which today all follow again the coenobitic system – the administration is in the hands of the Abbot (Ηγούμενος – Hēgoumenos) who is elected by the brotherhood for life. He is the lord and spiritual father of the monastery. The Convention of the brotherhood (Γεροντία) is the legislative body. All the other establishments (sketes, cells, huts, retreats, hermitages) are dependencies of some of the 20 monasteries and are assigned to the monks by a document called "homologon" (ομόλογον).
Mount Athos is the only country in the world that uses Julian calendar, and Byzantine time, in which the day commences at sunset and hour length is variable.
Modern History
The self-governed region of the Holy Mountain, according to the Decree passed by the Holy Community on 3 October 1913 and according to the international treaties of London (1913), Bucharest (1913), Neuilly (1919), Sèvres (1920) and Lausanne (1923), the region of the Holy Mountain recognized the Kings of the Hellenes as the lawful sovereigns and "successors on the Mountain" of the "Emperors who built" the monasteries. The Greek state was declared to be the protector of the monastic state, promising to respect religious status of the region and its autonomy.
This arrangement led to a somewhat legal vacuum after the abolishment of the monarchy and the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic in 1924. However, the relations between Greece and Mount Athos continued mostly unchanged. In the words of Aliki Diplarakou, a Greek holder of the Miss Europe title who dressed up as a man and sneaked into Mount Athos in the 1930, "the relations between Greece and Mount Athos remained cordial because each side minded its own business".
After the Nazi takeover of Greece, the Epistassia, Athos's executive committee, formally asked Hitler to place the Autonomous Monastic State under his personal protection, and Hitler agreed. Mount Athos survived World War II nearly untouched, and the monks of Mount Athos referred to Adolf Hitler as "High Protector of the Holy Mountain".
After the war, a "Special Double Assembly" of the Holy Community in Karyes passed the "Constitutional Charter" of the Holy Mountain, which reasserted the allegiance to the King of the Hellenes, claiming continuity with the "self-ruled monastic state" as stated on a chrysobull parchment signed and sealed by the Byzantine Emperor Ioannis Tzimisces in 972. This is the first time the official documents mentions the monastic state as being independent, albeit under the sovereignty of the King, and is widely recognized as the formal declaration of independence.
In 1975, when the monarchy has been abolished, the peninsula again lost its legal status and entered a period of uncertainty, until its relations with Greece have been formally negotiated in 1976. The treaty has been signed in the village of Ouranoupoli, which gave the name to the treaty, obviously inspired by Lateran treaties between the Holy See and Italy, although given the reluctance of many orthodox orders in dealing with the Roman catholic church, this fact is never officially mentioned.
- Name: Monastic State of the Holy Mountain (Greek: Μοναστικὴ Πολιτεία Ἁγίου Ὄρους)
- Short form: Holy Mountain (Greeek: Ἅγιον Ὄρος), in English the name Mount Athos is often used
- Capital: Karyes (Greek: Καρυές), 40°15.429′N 24°14.698833′E
- Official languages: Greek, Serbian (in the Helandariou Monastery), Bulgarian (in the Zografou Monastery), Russian (in the Agiou Panteleimonos Monastery)
- Religion: Eastern Orthodoxy
- Demonym: Athonite (Αθωνίτης), Agiorite (Αγιορείτης)
- Government: Theocratic society led by ecclesiastical council
- Protos: Stefanos Chilandrinos
- Autonomy (Greece): Constitutional reaffirmation 1927
- Independence (from Greece):
- Declared: 1946
- Recognized: 1976 (Ouranoupolis treaty)
- Area: Total 335.63 km²
- Population: 1811 (2011 census)
- Currency: Euro (EUR), currency union with Greece
- Time zone: Byzantine time
- Drives on the: right
- Calling code: not in use, +301 is reserved
- ISO 3166 code: AH
- Internet TLD: not used, .ah is reserved
Monastic State of the Holy Mountain (Greek: Αὐτόνομη Μοναστικὴ Πολιτεία Ἁγίου Ὄρους) is a country situated in the Mount Athos, a peninsula in northeastern Greece. It is an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
Mount Athos is home to 20 monasteries under the direct theological jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, however it is fully sovereign in temporal affairs.
Access
The number of daily visitors to Mount Athos is strictly regulated, and all are required to obtain a visa, valid for a limited period. Only males are permitted to visit the territory, which is called the "Garden of Virgin Mary" by the monks, with Orthodox Christians taking precedence. Residents on the peninsula must be males aged 18 and over who are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and also either monks or workers.
Citizenship is granted only to persons leading a monastic life, upon admission as novices or monks in one of the monasteries situated in the country. According to the Ouranoupolis treaty, citizens of Mount Athos are automatically eligible for Greek citizenship (but they have to apply for it). This extends to former Mount Athos citizens, if they do not hold citizenship of any other state upon losing Mount Athos citizenship.
Foreign relations
Mount Athos is a very reclusive country, maintaining official diplomatic relations only with Greece. Its embassy to Greece is located in Thessaloniki. Although the Ouranoupolis treaty stipulates that the diplomatic relations with other countries are conducted by Greece on behalf of Mount Athos, the monastic republic has not established diplomatic relations with any other country.
Mount Athos is not a member of the United Nations Organization. It applied for an observer status in the Universal Postal Union in 1976, but asked Greece to act on its behalf and in 1978 suspended its application. However, the country issues its own postage stamps, which are valid only for posting to Greece and Mount Athos itself. Due to their rarity, they are quite valued by collectors.
Administration and organization
Athos government has the form of the "Holy Community" (Ιερά Κοινότητα – Iera Koinotita) which consists of the representatives of the 20 Holy Monasteries, having as executive committee the four-membered "Holy Administration" (Ιερά Επιστασία – Iera Epistasia), with the Protos (Πρώτος) being its head. The political system does not implement separation of powers, the Protos is thus both the head of government and the head of state.
In each of the 20 monasteries – which today all follow again the coenobitic system – the administration is in the hands of the Abbot (Ηγούμενος – Hēgoumenos) who is elected by the brotherhood for life. He is the lord and spiritual father of the monastery. The Convention of the brotherhood (Γεροντία) is the legislative body. All the other establishments (sketes, cells, huts, retreats, hermitages) are dependencies of some of the 20 monasteries and are assigned to the monks by a document called "homologon" (ομόλογον).
Mount Athos is the only country in the world that uses Julian calendar, and Byzantine time, in which the day commences at sunset and hour length is variable.
Modern History
The self-governed region of the Holy Mountain, according to the Decree passed by the Holy Community on 3 October 1913 and according to the international treaties of London (1913), Bucharest (1913), Neuilly (1919), Sèvres (1920) and Lausanne (1923), the region of the Holy Mountain recognized the Kings of the Hellenes as the lawful sovereigns and "successors on the Mountain" of the "Emperors who built" the monasteries. The Greek state was declared to be the protector of the monastic state, promising to respect religious status of the region and its autonomy.
This arrangement led to a somewhat legal vacuum after the abolishment of the monarchy and the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic in 1924. However, the relations between Greece and Mount Athos continued mostly unchanged. In the words of Aliki Diplarakou, a Greek holder of the Miss Europe title who dressed up as a man and sneaked into Mount Athos in the 1930, "the relations between Greece and Mount Athos remained cordial because each side minded its own business".
After the Nazi takeover of Greece, the Epistassia, Athos's executive committee, formally asked Hitler to place the Autonomous Monastic State under his personal protection, and Hitler agreed. Mount Athos survived World War II nearly untouched, and the monks of Mount Athos referred to Adolf Hitler as "High Protector of the Holy Mountain".
After the war, a "Special Double Assembly" of the Holy Community in Karyes passed the "Constitutional Charter" of the Holy Mountain, which reasserted the allegiance to the King of the Hellenes, claiming continuity with the "self-ruled monastic state" as stated on a chrysobull parchment signed and sealed by the Byzantine Emperor Ioannis Tzimisces in 972. This is the first time the official documents mentions the monastic state as being independent, albeit under the sovereignty of the King, and is widely recognized as the formal declaration of independence.
In 1975, when the monarchy has been abolished, the peninsula again lost its legal status and entered a period of uncertainty, until its relations with Greece have been formally negotiated in 1976. The treaty has been signed in the village of Ouranoupoli, which gave the name to the treaty, obviously inspired by Lateran treaties between the Holy See and Italy, although given the reluctance of many orthodox orders in dealing with the Roman catholic church, this fact is never officially mentioned.
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