Tag Archives: Graham Speake

2083 – Derek Hill and the Holy Mountain

At the harbour of Vatopedi you may find a restored fountain and a kiosk, that were built in memory of Derek Hill, “who showed a genuine love for the monasteries of the Holy Mountain”, as is engraved in the memorial … Continue reading

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1828 – Inside Iviron (towards the end of the third day)

After we installed ourselves in the guestroom at Iviron we relaxed for a while on our beds in the narrow white washed room with a very high ceiling. It had been a long day walking, starting in Vatopediou. When I … Continue reading

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1770 – Some frescoes of Chilandariou (day two, second intermezzo)

In the outer ring of the courtyard we found a covered space with old murals. Frescoes that are in a bad condition. The heads and especially the eyes of the saints are badly damaged. Sometimes the heads and eyes of … Continue reading

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1759 – A morning walk to the ruins of the Athonite Academy. Day one, part two.

A large group of pilgrims just arrived at the guesthouse and we didn’t want to interfere or wait for hospitality after our wobbly boat trip. So we took a quick Greek coffee from a coffee machine in the old guesthouse … Continue reading

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1510 – Gregoriou: a warm welcome for a pilgrim

Gregoriou is first mentioned in documents of 1347 and 1348. In 1489 it is decribed as being Serbian later it was Greek again. It was burned down about 1500.  A second fire burned it in or about 1761. The monastery … Continue reading

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1508 – Timber in Iviron

Apart from the shops in Karyes and in the monasteries there is not much visible commercial activity on Athos. Here you see the timber trade. Most of the monasteries own large parts of forestland on the pensinsula and they sell … Continue reading

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1506 – Pre-Christians remnants

In antiquity there were five cities to be found on the Mt. Athos pensinsula. According to Graham Speake in Renewal in Paradise the site of none of them is known for certain. On the map the places where probably the … Continue reading

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1107 – book: Mount Athos by John Julius Norwich, Reresby Sitwell and A. Costa

It was an extremely pleasant coincidence that I was able to buy one of the classic books about the Holy Mountain. (The book was announced in blog nr.852). The book, coffee table sized, describes the trip to Athos the illustrious … Continue reading

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