My fellow blogger Vasilis found this interview (in Dutch!) with the one the most famous Dutch Athos-’connaisseurs’, mister W.B. Theunissen. It is special that this interview from the early days of television survived and now is to be seen on EUscreen.
Dr Theunissen wrote three books in Dutch about Athos: (see our Book Title List nr 1207)
We payed attention to his books in 389, 390, 399, 408, 632.
Wim, 23/1
Last week I bought this French magazine from April 8th 1961 (nr 626), with an article about Athos, written by Jean Maquet and photos by Pierre Vals (for an older article from 1959 in a Dutch magazine see blog 664 - at the moment still without photos).
First page
Vatopedi courtyard
Probably monastery Vatopediou
Vatopediou – monk and semantron
Monk in his cell
Hermit in his cell
Detail of the previous photo: next to an empty bottle of wine a box with “condensed milk prepared in Holland”!
Three young monks
Katholikon Dionysiou – “the monastery was almost deserted”, says the writer in 1961
Hermit at the “desert”
Inside a katholikon
Portrait of a monk
and above you can see the text of the article (in French).
Wim, 15/1
In blog 660 we showed you one picture from the 1983 National Geographic magazine (with a discussion if this picture was fake).
Today we will show the rest: the picture are made by James L. Stanfield.
Simonospetras by evening, with two different light conditions, and the photo that gave some discussion, if if the bones of this former abbot could fit the box.
Skiti Ag. Anni: the inscribed skull of a priest at the monastic community
Father Niphon, a master carver, has lived as a hermit for more than 50 years
Karoulia: Father Niphon, two dozen hermits inhabit caves and Spartan huts
Stavronikita: St. Nicholas of the Oyster – in the 16th century, after fishermen found the icon with an oyster embedded in its forehead
Stavronikita Monastery: monks having a simple meal
But the National Geographic photograpic archive has more Athos pictures, from which I do not know the year of publication (or if they were ever published at all?).
Here three pictures of a photographer named James P. Blair:
Monk reads scriptures on a rowboat in the Aegean Sea
Simonospetras: after morning service and early meal, monks have a discussion on the rectory balcony
Simonaspetras: an elder monk counsels a younger monk
And than there are three pictures made by Gilbert M. Grosvenor (past president and chief executive of the National Geographic magazine, as well as a former editor):
Panteleimonos (?): a monk reads scriptures in a vaulted refectory at a monastery meal
Monks and pilgrims feast on a saint’s day in an ornate refectory (Panteleimonos?)
The text by this says: “Greek Orthodox abbot in red and gold robes raises a golden cross”. I think it must be a Russian Orthodox priest or abbot from Panteleimonos(?).
Wim, 20/6
In numbers 661 and 664 of our blog we already showed some pictures of the September 1916 magazine of National Geographic. With the help of our fellow blogger Vasilis I found some more pictures on the internet, with many unpublished photo’s from National Geographic. Some of the pictures are presented for a second time, but they have a better quality then previously shown, and a couple photo’s are totally new and never seen before. The photo’s are by Harry Griswold Dwight.
Iviron
Karyes
Kavsokalivia wall paintings in St. Anthony’s churh
Lavra arsanas (port)
Lavra phiale
Monks and laymen
Pantocratoros and the Holy Mountain
Simonospetras arsanas
Vatopedi (?)- narthex of a church
Vatopedi – Feast of the Annuciation
Vatopedi – stone plaza and clock tower
Vatopedi – communion cup
Vatopedi – iconostasis
Vatopedi – a mule train in front of the monastery
Vatopedi – guesthouse kitchen
Vatopedi – hallway with arched columns
Vatopedi – the bay with buildings
Vatopedi – orchard
Vatopedi – courtyard
Vatopedi – trapeza
Xenofontos – gnarled trees
Xiropotamou – gold bible and jade communion cup
All the National Geographic pictures are beautifully published in this wonderfull Greek book, that Vasilis gave to me:
ISBN 978-960-6883-89-7
Wim, 19/6
Let’s continue the blog about this magazine:
Docheiariou bu Efimov in 1835. This water-color is made by an unknown artist, probably around 1900.
Photograph of Sografou seen from the north-east, an early picture, taken between 1865-1882.
Early photograph of Filotheou. According to the buildings shown, this picture is taken before 1872.
Photoalbums Athos 1904-1913
Panteleimonos before 1862. This oil color painting is in the Trapeza and is painted in 1892, probably after a photograph of 1859-60.
Panteleimonos around 1871
Graphic representation of Panteleimonos as it was in 1851-61. Colored lithograph in the library of the monastery.
Grigoriou before 1891, before the extension of 1891-1896. This photograph also belonged to the important collection of views of monasteries, that hung in the guesthouse of Karakallou which was destroyed by fire in 1988.
Vatopedi, after 1857. This picture belongs to the Sevastianov collection in St. Petersburg. Because he visited Vatopedi 1857, this picture must have been taken in this year (or in 1859-60), thus being one of the oldest existing views of Athos (Library of the Academy of Fine Arts – St. Petersburg).
Simonospetras before 1862. This picture also belongs to the Sevastianov collection in St. Petersburg and he visited this monastery in 1859-60.
Ag. Pavlou by Ekimov 1835. It is important because it records the interior arrangement of the monastery in 1835,which has since been totally altered. Especially important is the image of the old Katholicon (Gennadios Library).
Lavra 1835. It is one of the vignettes of the Davydov map, drawn by N. Ekimov in 1835, published as uncolouered etching in 1839, and water-coloured by hand probably around 1900.
Besides showing the Tower, the Katholicon and east wing, it is of special interest because it shows the Church of Michael Sinnada, destroyed during the 1905 earthquake.
Panteleimonos from the West, 1835(?). Colored lithograph by Richebois, issued in Paris, after a drawing of G. Birman of 1835. This drawing, besides its elegance, is important because it shows a Post-Byzantine church, which could be no other than the Kyrakion or main church of the old Monydrion (small monastery) of Ananlipsis, which was totally absorbed by the big monastery and vanished.
N. Ghika, Athos seen from Sithonia.
Wim Voogd, 5/6/2011
Pavlos Mylonas writes in an article in this Greek magazine – in Greek with a short summary in English -about Mount Athos and paintins and pictures from the 19th century.
The pantings are from a Russian artist Efymov, who painted Athos in 1835 and his works were published by Davydov. I will also show you the earliest existing Athos-photographs from 1869-70, made in Lavra, while they were building the treasury. Many of these old pictures have been hanging on the wall of the guesthouse of Karakallou, that was burnt in 1988. Luckily mr Mylonas has been able to keep a few of these pictures.
View of the monastery Panteleimonos from the West, showing the state of the compound in the period 1895-1908. This is a section of a large painting that is hanging in de guesthouse of the monastery.
Water-color painting by N. Efimov 1835, showing Agiou Pavlou (Gennadios Library)
Arsanas of Pantocratoros 1935, painted by Spyros Papaloukas (also see 1053)
Lavra
Pavlou
Lavra (?)
Unknown
Docheiariou
Vatopedi
Roussikon (?)
Unknown place with palm tree
Unknown
Iviron (?)
Aquaduct outside Filotheou(?)
Interior monastery 1835
Wood cut made by E. Papadimitriou 1934 (frontispiece of Papantoniou’s book Hagion Oros) (for balloon art see 312)
And I will end this blog today with the oldest exsisting photograph of Athos, made in 1869-70. Extensive photographic work in these years was carried out by an important Russian expedition, headed by Count Peter Sevastianov, who widely published his work in newspapers and magazines in Russia and France in the 1860s. These pictures are shown to Mylonoas in Moscow and St Petersburg, because they were no longer to be found in Karakallou, because of the 1988 fire.
Notice that the construction of the treasury of Lavra is to be seen!
Next time more of this greek magazine from 1995.
Wim Voogd, 2/6
Yesterday I finished reading this little book (127 pages). Unfortuanately it is only available in Greek and Dutch, but worth reading especially for pilgrims who will visit Mt. Athos for the first time. The Greek Theologian Vasilis Stergioulis visits Athos in 1985, departing from Ierissos. He describes almost every monastery they pass or visit. The trip goes all the way around the mountain, back along the SW-coast, to Ouranopolis. The book gives Рin short Рa lot of basic information, but also some interesting information about the Orthodox religion and its customs/rituals. The black and white pictures are of poor quality, but they fit the text and they make this book easy to read. It is published in-house in 2009 by mr Emiel-Andr̩ Vanrysselberghe from Belgium and you can buy it here.
Our reader Joseph showed us this book from Scott Cairns, published in February 2007. I wonder how the book will be, it is on my wish-list. For a poem of Scott Cairns see 1033.
Here some more books, starting with an "exotic" book about Athos, written by Kazuhide Kawamata from Japan, and some titles in German.
2nd book: Fritz Kreichauf, Als Pilger auf dem Athos (184 p.), 1984 and 3th: Hans Steinacker Athos, Weisheit aus der Stille (47 p.), 2002.
Book 1: Gerhard Trumler: Athos, The Holy Mountain (196 photos) 1990, made by the famous Austrian photographer. "This book “Athos – the Holy Mountain†was recognized by the President of the Republic of Athos as the most beautiful photo book on the Holy Mountain in the 20th century".
Book 2: Rudolf Irmler: Geheimnisvoller Athos (140 p.), 1965, Switzerland.
Book 3: Gunther Spitzing: Athos der heilige Berg des östlichen Christentums (219 p.) 1990
Book 1: Fabian da Costa: Florilege du Mont Athos (276 p.), 2005
Book 2: Durel Alain: La Presqu'ile Interdite. Initiation Au Mont Athos (241 p.), 2010
Three books of Jean Biès, a French philosopher and author:
1. La Montagne transfiguree,2000
2. Voyage a la Sainte Montagne, 1980
3. Mont Athos (196 p.), 1963
I'll end with these four books, one in Greek, the rest in English:
Ralph Harper: Journey from Paradise, (Mt). Athos and the interior life (125 p.) 1987
Luiz Rocha: Mount Athos, A Journey of Self-discovery (104 p.), 2009
Monk Gabriel Philotheitis - Glimpses of the Holy Mountain – Photographs of Mount Athos (in Greek – 88 p.), 1997
Gareth Morgan: Athos 60: A Journal of a Visit to the Holy Mountain in the Days of Its Decline (125 p.), 1994
Wim Voogd, 29/3
Dear Readers,
We do not pretend to present a complete list of books, but it is slowly growing. As you can see, we mostly publish books in Dutch, English, German and French. Other languages, like Greek and Slavonic, are difficult for us to understand. Any suggestions for new books are welcome (email us).
Library of Mylopotamos – September 2009
Anonymous (Proust) - Bezoek aan den berg Athos, de Aarde en haar Volken /Dutch 1873
Alain, Durel: La Presqu'ile Interdite. Initiation Au Mont Athos (241 p.), 2010
Alexander (Golitzin), Hieromonk, The Living Witness of the Holy Mountain: Contemporary Voices from Mount Athos, South Canaan, Pennsylvania: St Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 1996 Anthology of some of the best of modern Athonite spiritual writing.
Amand de Mendieta, Emmanuel, Mount Athos, the Garden of the Panaghia, translated by Michael R. Bruce, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1972 original title: La presque ile des caloyers
Angelou, Alkis, “J.D. Carlyle’s Journal of Mount Athos (1801)â€, Eranistis, 14 (1965): 33[-]75
Augerias, Francios, Journey to Mount Athos, 2009, ISBN 1901285391
Ballot, Jean-Christophe Ballot, "Mont Athos", published by Bibliotheque Nationale de France, 2001
Barsky, Vasily Grigorovich, Stranstvovaniia Vasilia Grigorovicha Barskago po sviatym mestam Vostoka s 1723 po 1747 [Travels of Basil Grigorovich Barsky in the holy places of the East from 1723 to 1747], 4 vols, 1885[-]87 Volume 3 of Barsky’s account in Russian of the monasteries of the east is entirely devoted to Athos, with fine line-drawings of the monasteries.
Barsky, Vasily Grigorovich, Vtoroe poseshchenie sviatoi Afonskoi gory Vasilia Grigorovicha-Barskago im samim opisannoe [Basil Grigorovich Barsky’s Second Visit to the Holy Mountain of Athos as Described by Himself], 1887
Bauer, Kurt, Athos – Berg der Herausforderung, 2010, Tyrolia (German)
Belon, Pierre, Les Observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses mémorables, 1553; as Plurimarum Singularium et Memorabilium Rerum in Graecia, Asia, Aegypto, Iudaea, Arabia, aliisque exteris Provinciis ab ipso conspectarum Observationes, translated into Latin by Carolus Clusius, 1589. Belon found a rivercrab on Mount Athos.
Biès, Jean, Mont Athos, 1963 (French)
Biès, Jean: Voyage a la Sainte Montagne, 1980 (French)
Biès, Jean: Athos: La Montagne Transfigurée, May 2000 (French)
Bischof, Rudolf: Erlebnis Athos, Im Banne der Stundentrommel, 2004 (German)
Bos, Rolf, met gedichten Peter van den Hazel, Athos, Amstelveen, 1981 (Dutch)
Bos, Rolf: Een theocratisch paradijs (1997), de Volkskrant 26 juli 2007 (Dutch)
Brekelmans, I.: Pelgrimeren naar de Berg Athos, Den Dungen 1995, pp 269 (verslag van twee reizen in de jaren tachtig) (Dutch)
Brenninkmeijer, Paul: Gastvrijheid en spiritualiteit. Bezoek aan de berg Athos, Pokrof 4(2004)4-6 (Dutch)
Breukel, Thom: Op de Heilige Berg Athos, Eikonikon 13(1989)10-11, 19(1990)9-10 (Dutch)
Brewster, Ralph H., The 6,000 Beards of Athos, 1935
Brockhaus, Heinrich Eduard: Die Kunst in den Athos-Kl̦stern (German Edition) РMay 24, 2002
Bryer, Anthony and Mary Cunningham (editors), Mount Athos and Byzantine Monasticism, Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies Publications, no. 4, Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum, 1996 Lively and scholarly contributions on the history, spirituality, economy, and arts and architecture of the Holy Mountain.
Buondelmonti, Cristoforo, Librum Insularum Archipelagi, 1824; as Description des îles de l’Archipel … Version grecque par un anonyme, publiée d’après le manuscrit du Sérail avec une traduction française et un commentaire, par Émile Legrand, 1897
Byron, Robert, The Station; Athos: Treasures and Men, 1928; with introduction by Christopher Sykes, 1949 and here. Photo's by Byron.
Cairns, Scott, Short trip to the edge Where earthmeets heaven – a pilgrimage, 2007
Cavarnos, Constantine, The Holy Mountain, Belmont, Massachusetts: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1973
Cavarnos, Constantine, Anchored in God: An Inside Account of Life, Art and Thought on the Holy Mountain of Athos, 2nd edition, Belmont, Massachusetts: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1975
Capuani/Paparozzi: Athos – 1999 Chariton, Monk, Maties ston Atho/Images of Athos, Mount Athos, 1997 [text in Greek and English]
Costa, da, Fabian РFloril̬ge du Mont Athos, 6-5-2005, 276 p. French, ISBN : 2750900409
Choukas, Michael, Black Angels of Athos, London, 1935
Covel, John, Some Account of the Present Greek Church, with Reflections on their Present Doctrine and Discipline, 1722
Curzon, George Nathaniel, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, “Monasteries of the Levant†in his Leaves from a Viceroy’s Note-book and other Papers, 1926; as A Viceroy’s India, edited by Peter King, 1984. The author follows in the footsteps of his relative Robert.
Dafis, S. e.a., Nature and natural Environment in Mount Athos, ThessalonÃki 1997, pp 61 (Treasures of Mount Athos exhibit)
Dalrymple, William, “The Monastery of Iviron, Mount Athos, Greece, 29 June 1994: The Feast of SS Peter and Paul†in his From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium, 1997; as From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East, 1998
Dapontes, Konstantinos, Kepos Chariton [Garden of the Graces], 1880. Dapontes settled as a monk on Mount Athos in the mid-18th century.
Dawkins, R.M. – The Monks of Athos, 1936
Deroko, Alexander, Athos (Serbian)
Dölger,F., Mönchland Athos, München, 1943
Eller, Karl, Der Heilige Berg Athos, München, 1954
Fallmerayer, Jakob Philipp, Hagion Oros, oder Der Heilige Berg Athos [The Agion Oros, or the Holy Mountain Athos], edited by Franz Hieronymus Riedl, 1978
Feigl, Erich, Athos Vorhölle zum Paradies, Wien/Hamburg, 1982 (German)
Fennel, Nicholas, The Russians on Athos, Peter Lang, 2001
Friedlander, Richard John: Paradise Besieged: A Journey to Medieval Mount Athos at the Dawn of the Information Age, August 6, 2007, Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
I.M. Filothéou (ed), Athonikes Stigmes (Moments of Athos), Agion Oros 1994, pp 205 (bijzonder fotoboek in groot formaat) Gabriel (Gavriil) Filotheïtis, monachos, Athos, Beauty and Grace (Kállos ke Cháris), ThessalonÃki 2004, pp 190 (tekst Grieks en Engels, zeer mooi kijkboek)
Gedeon, Manouel Ioannes, O Athos: Anamniseis — Eggrapha — Simeioseis [Athos: Memories -- Documents -- Notes], Constantinople, 1885; reprinted, Athens, 1990
Geldermans, Raymond: Athos, ark der orthodoxie, Pokrof 49(2002)10-12 (Dutch)
Georgirenes, Joseph, A Description of the Present State of Samos, Nicaria, Patmos, and Mount Athos, translated by Henry Denton, 1678
Gothóni, René, Paradise within Reach: Monasticism and Pilgrimage on Mt Athos, Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1993
Gothóni, René, Tales and Truth: Pilgrimage on Mount Athos Past and Present, Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1994
Grassi, Emanuele, Berg Athos, Eine Pilgerfahrt zum Berg der Asketen, 1981 (German)
Greeve, H. de, Athos, een inleiding, Amsterdam, 1967 (Dutch)
Gullman, Sven H., Athos: det Heliga berget (Skellefteå, 2004) (Swedish)
Harper, Ralph: Journey from paradise, Mt Athos and the interior life, (125 p.) 1987
Hasluck, F.W. (editor), “The First English Traveller’s Account of Athos (1677)â€, Annual of the British School at Athens, 17 (1910[-]11): 103[-]31
Hagioritis, Andreas, Guide du Mont Athos, ??? Hasluck, F.W., Athos and its Monasteries, 1924
Hellier, Ch., Athos, The Holy Mountain, in: Monasteries of Greece, London 1996, pp 95-171 (groot formaat, prachtige foto’s)
Hokwerda, Hero: Athos, van verval tot nieuwe bloei, Lychnari 3(1993)23-24 (Dutch)
Huber, P. Athos – Lebe, Glaube, Kunst, Zurich, 1969 (German)
Huber, P, Athos. Wundertätige Ikonen, Stuttgart ca 1980, pp 50 (German)
Hunink, Vincent: Nieuwe tijden op Athos, Streven 65(1998)597-609 (Dutch)
Hyman, Susan (editor), Edward Lear in the Levant: Travels in Albania, Greece and Turkey in Europe, 1848[-]1849, London: John Murray, 1988
Irmler, Rudolf: Geheimnisvoller Athos (140 p.), 1965, Switzerland
Kadas, Sotiris, Mount Athos: An Illustrated Guide to the Monasteries and their History, translated by Louise Turner, Athens: Ekdotike Athenon, 1979 Karakatsanis, Athanasios (editor), Treasures of Mount Athos, Thessaloniki: Museum of Byzantine Culture and Holy Community of Mount Athos, 1997 [exhibition catalogue] A massive and scholarly treasury of all aspects of the arts of Mount Athos, with historical introduction and bibliography.
Kästner, Erhart, Die Stundentrommel vom Heiligen Berg Athos, Wiesbaden, 1956 [The Beating of the Hours on the Holy Mountain Athos], 1956; as Mount Athos: The Call from Sleep, translated by Barry Sullivan, 1961
Kazantzakis, Nikos, Anaphora ston Gkreko: Myth istorema, 1961; as Report to Greco, translated by P.A. Bien, 1965
Kinnet, Alex: Verslag verblijf op de Agion Oros/Heilige Berg Athos (september 2000), Eikonikon 71(2001)15-18 (Dutch)
Köppen, W. Wo die Welt vergessen wird, Mainz, 1981(German)
Khitrovo, Sofiya, Itinéraires russes en Orient, 1889 Accounts by Russian travellers from the 14th to the 16th century, starting with Ignatius of Smolensk.
Koutoumános, I., Athos…wie der Himmel es sieht (opos to vlepi …o ouranos), Athen 1994, pp 51 (aerials from all monasteries, text in Greek, German and English)
Kreichauf, Frits: Als Pilger auf dem Athos (184 p.), 1984
Kuhlman, Rolf, Der Athos auf der Spuren einer Faszination, 2003 Lafontaine, Marc, Le Mont Athos, 1995 (German)
Langlois, Victor, Le Mont Athos et ses monastères, Paris: Didot, 1867. The complete book is online.
Leake, William Martin, Travels in Northern Greece, vol. 3, 1835
Lecq, J.B. van der: Athos herbeleefd, Sjofar 31(2003)9-11, 32(2003)9-10 (Dutch)
Loch, Joyce Nankivell, A Fringe of Blue: An Autobiography, 1968
Loch, Sydney, Athos: The Holy Mountain, 1957
Loon, Wim van: Bezoek aan de Heilige Berg Athos, Op weg 49(1995)3, Bezoek aan de Heilige Berg Athos: een impressie, Eikonikon 77(2002)16-17, Katastrofale brand op Athos, Eikonikon 84(2004)5-6, Weerzien met Athos en de ikoon Axion EstÃ, Eikonikon 85 (2004)3, Een cel op de Heilige Berg Athos: Vader EfthÃmios en de Heilige Artemios, Eikonikon 93(2006)10-11 (Dutch)
Loving, G.G.: Mt. Athos Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – 1982)
Lyttle, Douglas Demetrios: Miracle on the Monastery Mountain, 2004
M. le Comte. B. DE NADAILLAC, LE MONT ATHOS
Markides, Kyriakos: The Mountain of Silence, Image (Doubleday), New York, NY, 2001
Masmeijer, Pieter: Athos en de wereld, een impressie, Eikonikon 38(1994)11 (Dutch)
Martin, Michael E., “Some Western Images of Athos in Early Modern Times, c. 1554[-]1678â€, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 22 (1998): 51[-]74
Merrill, Christopher, Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain April 19, 2004)
Millet, Gabriel, Monuments de l’Athos, vol. 1: Les Peintures, Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1927 (French). Many images by Millet here.
Mondadori, Monte Athos, 1982
Morritt, John B.S., The Letters of John B.S. Morritt of Rokeby, Descriptive of Journeys in Europe and Asia Minor in the Years 1794[-]6, edited by G.E. Marindin, 1914
Müller, Andreas, Berg Athos – Geschichte einer Mönchrepublik, 2005 (German)
Müller, Norbert M., Der Heilige Berg Athos "By Fair Means" okt 2010 (German)
Mylonas, Paul M.: Atlas of Mount Athos / Bildlexikon des Heiligen Berges Athos (2000) publisher Wasmuth. (3 lexicons)
Mylonas, Paul M.: Athos and its Monastic Institutions through old engravings and other work of art – 1963
Mylonas, Paul M.: Le catholicon of Kutlumus Athos – 1994
Nicephore, Hieromonk, The holy Mountain Athos, Skiti Mikra Anna, 2003 Noakes, Vivien (editor),
Edward Lear: Selected Letters, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988
Norwich John Julius and Reresby Sitwell: Mount Athos Photographs by the authors and A. Costa. New York: Harper & Row, 1966 (also see 1107)
Papantoniou, Zacharias, Hagion Oros [The Holy Mountain], 1934
Pennington, M. Basil: The Monks of Mount Athos, 1978
Perk, Nico van der: Christoforos. Een diaconale ikoon op Athos, Eikonikon 91(2006)8-9 (Dutch)
Perilla, F. Le Mont Athos 1927
Pohl, Gerhart, Wanderungen auf dem Athos, 1961, Berlin, Stuttgart, Lettner
Proust, M.A., Voyage au Mont Athos, 1858
Provatakis, Theocharis, Mount Athos, History – Tradition – Tourism, Thessaloniki, ?
Riley, Athelstan, Athos, or the Mountain of the Monks, 1887 the complete text here!
Rocha, Luis: Mount Athos, A Journey of Self-Discovery, (104 p.), February 26, 2009
Rycaut, Sir Paul, The Present State of the Greek and Armenian Churches, Anno Christi 1678, 1679; reprinted, 1970
Sandys, George, A Relation of a Journey begun An. Dom. 1610, 1615 NEW
Santarelli, Armando, La montagna di Dio. Un viaggio spirituale al Monte Athos. 2009. Publisher: Rubbettino, 150 pages. ISBN: 978-88-498-2283-0
Sherrard, Philip, Athos, the Mountain of Silence, with colour photos by Paul du Marchie van Voorthuysen, 1960 (also in German: Der Berg des Schweigens – 1959)
Sherrard, Philip, Athos: The Holy Mountain, photos by Takis Zervoulakos, 1982 The most penetrating of recent interpreters according to an unknown reader.
Sibthorp, John, J.E. Smith, and John Lindley, Flora Graeca, 10 vols, 1806[-]40 This is one of the rarest Flora in existence. Vols 2 (1813) and 8 (1832) contain coloured engravings of Mount Athos as frontispieces. See also nrs. 332 + 338 on this log.
Smyrnakis, Gerasimos, To Agion Oros [The Holy Mountain], Athens, 1903; reprinted, Karyes: Panselinos, 1988
Sotiropoulos, Dimitris: Holy Mounting, Mercy and Blessing of the Lord (2010, photobook 119 p. in Greek)
Speake, Graham: ~Renewal in Paradise, 2002, Yale University Press Spencer, Matthew, Athos, Travels on the Holy Mountain 2000
Spitzing, Günter: Athos der heilige Berg des östlichen Christentums (219 p.) 1990
Spunda, Franz: Legenden und Fresken vom Berg Athos. Stuttgart: J.F. Steinkopf, 1962.
Starez Siluan, M̦nch vom Berg Athos, Sein leben und seine Lehre РKlassiker der Meditation, 2007 (German)
Steinacker, Hans: Athos, Weisheit aus der Stille (47 p.), 2002
Stergioulis, Vasilis Ch., Pelgrim op Athos, de Heilige Berg, 1985 (translated in Dutch 2009)
Stockiner/Strippelmann, Die M̦nche vom Heilgen Berg Р2001
Talbot Rice, David, “The Monasteries of Mount Athosâ€, Antiquity, 2/4 (December 1928): 443[-]51
Theunissen, W.P., Monnikenrepubliek van den Berg Athos, Den Haag, 1944 (Dutch)
Theunissen, W.P, Op de heilige Berg Athos, 1965 (Dutch)
Theunissen, W.P. en J. Hartog, De Heilige Berg, Rotterdam 1951, pp 256 Theotokas, Yorgas, Een reisverslag van Athos, 1961, trans. in Dutch 1990 (Dutch)
Thomas, W.B. – Dare to be free – 1955
Tozer, Henry Fanshawe, Researches in the Highlands of Turkey, vol. 1, 1869
The Treasures of Mount Athos – Illuminated Manuscripts – Ekdotike Athenon S. A. Volume 1 published in 1974 and volume 2 in 1975.
Trumler, G., Athos. The Holy Mountain, Athens 1994, pp 195 (fine photobook in big size)
Trumler, G. Athos, Heilige Berg – Berg der Heiligen, 2009, Brandstatter
Ulrich, Kadelbach, Mit Kazantzakis auf den Athos, Kretische Spuren, 2006
Valentin, Jacques: The Monks of Mount Athos, 1960
Various authors: Le Tour du Monde; Athos, Journal des voyages et des voyageurs; 2. sem. 1860
Vasssiliadis, Anastasios: Halkidiki, Athos, Petralona (German)
Veen, ter Koert, Athos, monnikeneiland, 2001
Verheijen, Ton: Athos, waar de de tijd al tien eeuwen stil staat, Griekenland Magazine, herfst(2004)18-25 (Dutch)
Vogue, de E.M. - Syrie, Palestine, Mont Athos: Voyage aux payes du pass̩ Р1887
Vorbach, Hans, Licht vom heiligen Berg Athos, 2009, Christiana Verlag
Walpole, Robert (editor), Memoirs Relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, edited from manuscript journals, 1817 (full text on Google books)
Walpole’s compilation, confusingly edited, contains extracts from the papers of Dr Philip Hunt and letters from Professor Carlyle recounting their 1801 visit to Athos and investigations of libraries and manuscript holdings. It also includes a few short extracts from the journals of John Sibthorp.
Ware, Timothy,(Kallistos): The Orthodox Church, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1963; 2nd revised edition, 1993 The standard work for English speakers.
Wittig, M.A., Athos. Der Heilige Berg von Byzanz, Würzburg 1990, pp 135
Zimbardo, Xavier, Monks of Dust: The Holy Men of Mount Athos, 2001
Zembylas, Tasos, Die Mönchrepublik Athos – Eine spirituelle Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Zwerger, Rheinhold, Wege am Athos, 2005. (also here)
In the last months I collected images of a few "new" Athos books. First three old ones:
Stanislas Neyrat- L'Athos, D'une excursion a la presqu'ile et a la montagne des moines, 1880, in French with black and white pictures
Karyes
E.M. de Vogue РSyrie, Palestine, Mont Athos: Voyage aux payes du pass̩ Р1887
R.M. Dawkins, The Monks of Athos, 1936
Dawkins – Phiale Docheiariou
Paul Mylonas – Atlas of Athos lexicon 1,2 and 3: 2000. I just bought the second book, which is full of the finest aerial pictures of monasteries. Later more about this book.
Alexander Deroko – Athos / Chr. Dahm – Athos, Mountain of Light, 1958 / and Constantine Cavarnos, Anchored in God, 1975
And this issue of Leica fotografie magazine from 1963, although I'm not sure if this picture is taken on Mt. Athos, because the interiour of this church does not look like an Athos church and I cannot remember seeing this type of stained glass on Athos. It is said that Athos pictures can be seen in this magazine, does anyone know?
Wim, 27/3
In april 2011 this new book about Athos will be published. Special about this Athos-book that it is written by a woman, a lecturer in Geographies of Knowledge in the School of Geographical Sciences at Bristol University.
The publisher The University of Virginia Press tells in a preview:
For more than one thousand years the monastic republic of Mount Athos has been one of the most chronicled and yet least accessible places in the Mediterranean. Difficult to reach until the last century and strictly restricted to male visitors only, the Holy Mountain of Orthodoxy has been known in the Eastern Christian world and in western Europe more through representation than through direct experience.
Most writing on Athos has focused on its Byzantine history and sacred heritage. Imagining Mount Athos uncovers a set of alternative and largely unexplored perspectives, equally important in the mapping and dissemination of Athos in popular imagination. The author considers Mount Athos as the site of pre-Christian myths of Renaissance and Enlightenment scholarship, of shelter for Allied refugees during the Second World War, and of a botanical and sociological laboratory for early-twentieth-century scientists. Each chapter considers a different narrative channel through which Athos has entered Orthodox and western European imagination: the mythical, the utopian, the sacred, the scholarly, the geopolitical, and the scientific.
Della Dora has assembled a wealth of unique textual, visual, and oral materials without ever having had the opportunity to visit this holy place. In this sense, in addition to making an important contribution to existing scholarship on Mount Athos, the book adds to current theoretical debates in cultural geography and humanities generally about the circulation of knowledge.
Imagining Mount Athos’s appeal is international and spans Hellenic studies, cultural geography, environmental history, cultural history, religious studies, history of cartography, and art history. The book will be of interest to scholars as well as to a general audience interested in this unique place and its fascinating history.
The book will be reviewed on this weblog.
Wim, 6/3
Skulls of monks in the ossuarium of Bogoroditsa
In Blog nr 1119 I wrote my first impressions about this book (buy it here!). It is not an easy task to make a summary of its contents, because mr Zwerger chose to write his book in a diary-form, with a lot of different information, collected over many years. But the knowlegde he had about Athos and especcially about hiking on the Holy Mountain, is like a goldmine. It would recomment the book to all pilgrims who already paid a visit to Mt. Athos, but not to people who plan to go there for the first time, because the information he gives in his book is too specialized.
The main theme in his book is his enormous effort to restore the old foothpaths during the period 1990-1996. At that time he already had the age of 66 and he continued to visit the Holy Mountain until he was at least 70 years old (from 1956: 49 times in 50 years!).
Skulls at Prodromou
I am quite impressed by the amount of kilometers he walked on Mt. Athos during his explorations of old paths. On one of his trips he made a big mistake: during a trip he found out that the path led to a death end and he was unable to continue his way. He wanted to go to an Athos-monastery, that was nearby and he already had it in sight. So he decided not to turn around and follow the path back again, but he chose to go his way through the wilderness. This is a classical mistake many unexperienced visitors to Mt. Athos make, and the mistake might be even dangerous too (we made this mistake in 1997, read here).
Ossuarium Konstamonitou
Photo by Tats, place unknown
Mr. Zwerger discribes how he gets into trouble, because the terrain gets very steep and the thorn bushes make it almost impossible to go on. Because he had his map and an altimeter he could save himself.
But there are stories told that pilgrims disappeared on Mt. Athos without any trace.
Skulls Dionysiou
Skulls Xenofontos
Mr Zwerger even recollects two actual deathly victims on Mt. Athos (page 162). In the mid or end of 1990 a German pilgrim simply disappeared on a trip between Sografou and Chilandariou. Some people claimed that a group of Albaniens commited a crime, but there is no prove for that. Mr. Zwerger beliefs he probably died of a heart attack. Because only his rucksack was found, he thinks that wild animals must have taken the body or bones to an unknown spot.
Lavras osteofilakio
And than there is the story about an Austrian, who started ahike in Lavra. He had planned to walk
to the top of Mt. Athos. After he was last seen at a dry well at 500 meters high, he never returned and his body was never found.
Mr. Zwerger poses a theory that he might have been tempted to descent the mountain from a different slope. Sometimes it looks easier to go down, and especially when you make a jump, you might never get back and climb up again. Nowbody knows what happened to this pilgrim (while his family was waiting for him on a nearby Greek Island). So take this warning: never leave a path and try to go your own way, unless you are in a group, but even then this warning is valuable.
Skulls in the Skete of St. Andreou – Serail
Mr. Zwerger also told this crazy story. While visiting Docheiariou his eyes fell upon the skull of a young child. A monk explained that this child probably died of an illness during the Second World War, when women from neighbouring towns fled to Mt. Athos!
Skulls in an unknown kellion near Karyes.
Wim Voogd, 20/1 (NB.: today our application for the Athos trip 2011 was sent to the Pilgrims bureau!)
Another German book about Athos is published in November 2010 (also see 1143). The book containes the experiences of a group of German four pilgrims in 2006. They climbed the Mountain and the writer reflects the camaraderie. I wonder what he means with the subtitle "By fair means" ……………
I hope we will have the opportunity to write a review of this book. For sale for € 14,80 on the internet.
Wim, 2-1-2011
Here are the remaining images from this book, starting with the plain black and white woodcarvings (?).
Lavra
Simonospetras
Courtyard (of Vatopediou?)
Katholicon Filotheou
Bell tower Vatopediou
Amalfi tower
Here an engraving of Chilandariou with Ag. Vasiliou in the foreground
Chilandariou
Map of Mount Athos – without Ouranopolis!
Plan of a model Athos-monastery
Plan of a model Athos-church
That brings us to the photos in this book:
Sografou
Chilandariou
Iviron
Konstamonitou
Pantocratoros
Vatopediou
Xenofontos
Xeropotamou
Lavra – refectory
Lavra – detail of paintings refectory
Protos and seimenide
This ends the images from the Perilla book, whitch gives us a rich impression about Athos in 1927.
I think it would be a great idea to restore the old tradition to give the seimenides of today their old way of clothing back (and a beard), don't you agree, or do we make Athos a kind of museum by doing this?
Wim, 29/12
(soon I will resume my travel account of 2009: we were left in Grigoriou)
In blog 924 I showed some images (8 watercolors) from this special book in French from 1927. Only 1115 copies were made, numbered from 1 to 1055 and from I to LX. It has 188 pages and a lot of illustrations: 12 watercolors made by the writer, some plain black and white illustrations, plans, photographs (at least 18) and a map of Athos.
Today I will show another 3 watercolors, so only one is missing.
Docheiariou – exonarthex
Simonospetras
Vatopedi – interiour church/iconostasis
The following illustrations look like woodcuts, although I am not quite sure of the technique that is used.
Novice
Russian monk of Panteleimon
Seimenide – Athos guard/police in its traditional clothing
Monk with semantron
Mule and monk
Procession
Ruins Athos academy near Vatopedi
Skulls
Proskynitarion/analogian
Next time more images from this special book (for sale between € 300,00 and € 500,00).
Wim Voogd,
28/12
Recently this book is published in Austria: Athos – Berg der Herausforderung – Mein spiritueller Weg als Pilger by Kurt Bauer (Athos – Mountain of Challenges – My spiritual road as a pilgrim):
"Kurt Bauer brings with this new book a blend of travelogue, personal experiences and cultural history".
I hope the publisher will send us a copy, so we can give our review of this book on our blog!
Wim, 1/12
This book, originally written in Greek in 1985 by the theologian Vasilis Ch. Stergioulis, is translated in Dutch in 2009 by Emiel-André Vanrysselberghe, and recently published. The title in Greek is:
More about the book (in Dutch) on this site.
Wim Voogd, 8/11
Recently I received a book in German, written by the maker of the famous Athos map, Reinhold Zwerger from Austria (1924-2009). In previous posts we paid attention to this Athos-expert (see 378 and 954), who visited Athos in 1956 for the first time, together with his friend Erich Feigl, who later wrote the encyclopedic book "Athos Vorhölle zum Paradies".
The book and map of Reinhold Zwerger
I just started reading this book, in which he recalls his memories and which is written like a diary with many short stories. My first impression is that it is one most interesting books about Athos I ever read!
Please pay attention to the stories I will post in the coming winter months. The first story I want to share with you is the following. On page 33 Reinhold describes the problem you can encounter when something quite ordinary is not as it should be: did you ever imagine that crosses on the sole of your trekking shoes might disturb the peacefull Athos environment ?
The story goes that monks would check shoes for "crosses" and in some cases they would take their pocket knive and cut away the crosses under your shoe! Even when you were sleeping, monks (or Greek tourists?) would take your mountain shoes at night and cut all the cross-shaped profiles from under the sole, returning your wrecked shoes outside your door. It is not fiction, Reinhold saw it happen in a guesthouse!
So beware next time you visit Mount Athos and check your shoes for "crosses" before you go!
Another big issue can be crossing your legs in church (or even sometimes outside church!): Never ever do cross your legs while attending church service, because it is considered to be an offence to the symbol of the Holy Cross and you will be corrected immediately. See a discussion about this subject on the Monachos forum.
Crossing one's legs outside Filotheou's monastery (1989)
The book from Zwerger is available through this website: www.wege-am-athos.at . I can already recommend it to you!
Wim, 20/9
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 trio made in june 1964. They went on this expedition in their belief that they were probably the last who witnessed a vanishing world. The monks were old and their numbers were diminishing rapidly by about 100 a year. So they calculated, in a linear way, that in the year 1975 Athos would be uninhabited, perhaps with the exception of a few monasteries. They explained the lack of attraction for young people to become a monk out of economic reasons (the country is richer, the monasteries poorer) and because monks are often ridiculed (`by their countrymen as a bunch of foolish old perverts who have failed to keep up with the times`). They state: `the fundamental, unanswerable fact is that Mount Athos had become an anachronism, and one which modern Greece is no longer able to indulge. `
They speculate about Athos´ future and they foresaw a gigantic holiday resort (as was suggested in the 19th century), that the Patriarch would come out of Istanbul or that is may be taken over by a charitable foundation, like Dumbarton Oaks of Gulbenkian. `Meanwhile, we can only wait for the eventual collapse, and try to assess the extent of the inevitable loss.`, they state.
In a historic sense Graham Speake´s Renewal in Paradise is the antitheses of this book. Speake quotes this book (`Athos is dying – and dying fast`. …The disease as incurable. There is no hope.`) and finds it the most depressing of all comments on Athos.
But, with the exception of the doomed and depressing forecast, it´s a fine book. John Julius Norwich gives an historical introduction of the Holy Mountain and Reresby Sitwell writes an entertaining description of their travels. It is full of nice details. For instance the vehicle with licence plate AO 01 is a coach.
Street scene in Karyes with the coach AO 01. Picture by A. Costa.
A hilarious scene is when John Julius takes a bath and the guest-master appeared: .. `he took one look at me and exploded. Never have I seen anyone so angry. The flood of hysterical Greek that poured from the depths of that enormous beard was largely incomprehensible to me, but his message was plain…..I was now compounding the sacrilege by standing stark naked under the very roof of the Grand Lavra. I was the Whore of Babylon, I was Sodom and Gomorrah, I was a minion of Satan sent to corrupt the Holy Mountain. I was to put on my scabrous clothes at once and return with all speed tot the foul pit whence I had come. `
He describes the unresolved feelings of the monks towards the works of art. Mainly a reaction to unscrupulous visitors , like Robert Curzon (in 1837) who took advantage of the innocence and gullibility of the monks and he stripped the Mountain of many of its more easily removable treasures and a Russian man called Uspensky who removed nearly all the best icons on the Mountain.
Some of his sentences stick to the mind. Like this one: ´Athos has seen the deaths of many men, but the birth of none.`
He explains customs like the semandron. The katholikon, standing free in the middle of the courtyard represents the ark of salvation. The semandron echoes the sound of Noah´s tools summoning the chosen to join him while time yet remains.
The second author, Sir Sacheverell Reresby Sitwell, 7th Baronet, died last year. He was the owner of Renishaw Hall, a stately home in Derbyshire. He did not write a lot. The only other publication by his hand was , a small book about his family, Renishaw Hall and the Sitwells, published in 2001. He made exhibitions in his , in the stable block in the ground. In the summer of 2007 he displayed a collection of wartime memorabilia, including Field Marshal Montgomery's pyjamas, Goering's cufflinks, Mussolini's cigarette case and the swastika-covered nightdress of Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress.
Reresby Sitwell in front of his stately home.
The first author John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality. The Athos book is his first publication. Later he publicized many books, among which three about Byzantium and about many other subjects. He is a viscount. So the whole Athos book is written by nobility. In june 1964 when they visited Athos, his mistress, Enrica (Ricki) Soma Huston, was pregnant. She gave birth to Allegra Huston in august of that year. Allegra was not aware of her real father, she found out about him years later and she wrote a book about her family background, called ´Love child ´ which was published in 2009. Probably a good timing of John Julius to visit the Holy Mountain in that period, which must have been stressful for him personally. He writes: … `that feeling of peace and serenity which is still, perhaps, the greatest single benediction that the Holy Mountain can confer`. Peace and serenity that is what found on Athos in what must have been a confusing time in his life.
John Julius Norwich in his young years with his first wife.
The book is nicely illustrated with large colored and black and white photographs made by the authors and by A. Costa. The pictures are not special in the sense of artistic quality, but give a good impression of the situation in the early sixties. There is no further information on the internet to be found about the photographer A. Costa. It would be interesting to find out whether he has got more pictures about the Holy Mountain which are not published in this fine book.
Two pictutures. Above the gallery of Ronanov portraits in the reception room at St. Panteleimon. Under we find the guestmaster op St. Paul´s. Both pictures taken by J.J. Norwich.
Bas Kamps
Thirsty and perspiring, I long for a freshwater stream to plunge in – although, from a former British diplomat, John Ure, I have gathered that Athonite monks deplore nakedness. Ure told me how, as a young pilgrim here, he once stripped off to splash himself in a stream, when a hermit emerged from a cave above him, screamed and ran off covering his eyes. Later, Ure arrived at the Grand Lavra to find the monks in a state of excitement. They had received a visit from one of the holiest hermits on the peninsula, who had broken his vow of silence to report a vision he had seen: John the Baptist baptising in his local stream – his telltale body radiating with “a shining whiteness unlike any normal mortalâ€. Already they were discussing the erection of a stained-glass window.
Read more of this Article about Bruce Chatwin on Mount Athos. see also Bruce Chatwin 1 nr. 777
hv
The Project Gutenberg e-book gives, like Google books, public access to old books. In the rapidly growing collection of old books there is an anonymous Dutch book called `Bezoek aan den berg Athos, de Aarde en haar Volken` (translated: visit to the Athos mountain, the earth and its peoples). It was published in 1873. The book is nice to read (for the Dutch) and has got some interesting pictures.
The three patriachs; painting in Lavra trapeza.
The book starts with a description of Thessaloniki (then under de Turkish rule). `The harbor lonely, the quay empty, the fertile land undeveloped and everywhere dirty stinking pools and marshes, from which pestilent vapors ascend. The truth of the Greek proverb: “there where the Turk's feet move, the earth withers“, is proved again`.
Suddenly I had a déjà -vu. I had the impression that I had read it before, that I recognized the pictures. Of course, it´s a translation of M.A. Proust´s contribution to the magazine Le tour du monde, nouveau journal des voyages (Trip around the world, new travel journal)! I have introduced Proust in blog 1063.
The higoumenos of Iveron.
I contacted the people behind the Project Gutenberg, to tell them that this anonymous work has finally found it´s author, after 137 years.
Esfigmenou.
You can find the e-book here.
Bas Kamps
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