The settlement of Mylopotamos in 1853.
Again in 2013, now with the winery and the vineyards of father Epifanios. Father Epifanios or Epiphanios is one of the better-known monks of Mount Athos. A dedicated winemaker with exports from his vineyard at the Skete of Timios Prodromos Iviron – a part of Mylopotamos, a dependency of the Holy Monastery of Megiste Lavra – traveling all over Greece and Europe. He is also an excellent cook and an ambassador of the monastery’s cuisine and dietary habits overseas.

The kitchen with Georgian workers. Squid with rice, one of the best dishes by Epifanios
Photo: Nikolaos Giakoumidis. Father Epifanios was recently interviewed by the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini. This is what Epifanios has to say about Athos visitors:

How do you cope with so many visitors?
I wouldn’t call it hospitality anymore; it’s an invasion. We get more than 200,000 visitors a year. A single monastery may have 40-50 monks and 100-150 visitors a day. This needs to stop. Sure, it’s tempting because everything on Mount Athos is free. Visitors pay 25 euros for an entry pass and the fare for the ferry boat and then spend five days here without having to pay for food, drink or anything.
Charge 20 euros (He probably means EUR 20 a day HV) and you’ll see how fast we’ll separate the wheat from the chaff.
We have people who come here out of interest or love for the community, out of spiritual motivation, and others who are just here for the ride.

Here you can read the whole interview.
The tower of Mylopotamos.

Herman Voogd (thanks to Wim Oudshoorn here sailing in front of Mylopotamos in the 1970ties)