The Holy Epistasia represents the executive authority of the Holy Community and is made up of four members. For this purpose, the twenty monasteries are divided into five groups of four, each one of which serves on the Holy Epistasia for one year in every five, more specifically, from 1 June to 31 May. For this purpose an ‘Epistates’ – who must have the same qualifications as those of the representatives of the monasteries – is sent each year from each monastery in each group of four. The Epistates of the senior monastery is called the Protepistates and presides over the Holy Epistasia, and as a symbol of his powers carries the staff of the Protos.
Karyes where the meetings are held.
Frankokastron. francokastron maar ook frangocastron er zijn veel schrijfwijzen en daarom inderdaad moeilijk om iets op internet te vinden
De grens van de monnikenrepubliek lag vroeger inderdaad meer in de richting van de isthmus van Athos, het zgn. kanaal van Xerxes in de buurt van Nea Rhoda. Het huidige Ouranoupolis maakte integraal deel uit van Athos en behoorde tot het territorium van het klooster Vatopedi. Ziehier wat Graham Speake, ‘honorary secretary of the friends of Mount Athos’ hierover schrijft in zijn boek “Mount Athos, renewal in paradise” (Yale University Press, 2002) : “Founded in 1922 as a village for refugees from Asia Minor, Ouranoupolis is now a summer resort for tourists. The only building of note is a Byzantine tower beside the quay. Known as Prosphori (meaning the offering), the tower was built in the thirteenth century by Emperor Andronikos II and ‘offered’ to monastery Vatopedi in perpetuity. It is said that the emperor’s wife stayd there. In 1922 the land surrounding the tower was confiscated from the monastery by the Greek government. The village that sprang up there was initially known as Pyrgos (‘tower’), but when the population grew to more than 500 it was renamed Ouranoupolis, after an ancient town of that name that stood on the other side of the peninsula between Ierissos and Nea Rhoda …” Ouranoupolis betekent trouwens : hemelse stad.
Het boek van Graham Speake kende ik nog niet, ik heb ‘m gelijk besteld. 10 jaar geleden ben ik overigens enige lid geweest van de Friends of Athos, maar daar ben weer mee gestopt, omdat het toch wel een erg engels clubje is.
Gr Wim