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359
A TOVVN WITHOUT A VVOMAN.
Tin: only town in the world without a woman
is the curious little capital of Athos, that
beautiful peninsula of white marble which
runs out into the sea for a distance of forty
miles on the coast of Macedonia. .
This lovely promontory has two companion
peninsulas which form the three picturesque
feet of Chalcidice, that section of Macedonia
so famous in classic ages. It was across the
base of the Athonite peninsula that Xerxes
cut his canal.
There is not in all Europe a more wonder-
ful spot than Athos.- This " Mountain ofthe'
Monks" has for centuries been the Holy
Land of the great Greek Church. Only a few
English travellers have from time to time
visited the peninsula, which must be reached
by sea either from Contessa or Salonica. Not
:1 woman ever sees any part of this locality
except as it can be viewed from the ocean
in passing along the ifigean; for the presence
of the weaker sex is absolutely prohibited in
Athos. The rocky range of hills fonning the
grand romontorly runs right along. the forty
miles mm the ow'ritlge connecting Athos
with the mainland of Chalcidice, and the
height increases steadily all the way until
Mount Athos properly so-called soars ‘up in a
magnificent cone and reaches an altitude of
very nearly seven thousand feet. At the base
the width of theprompntoryis only half.-r mile,
and here are sti 1 plainly visible the traces of
the famous old canal. But the peninsula
widens out until in some places it is quite four
miles across. .
No less than twenty s lendid monasteries
are perched and scatterer in the recesses of
this sublime lieadland or on the craggy and
‘JHW 1.‘. .
Bv REY. WV. DURBAN, ILA.
sometimes apparently inacces-
sible cliffs of the coast. And
here dwell under the conditions
of separation from a far-off
world the devotees of an ex-
traordinary system of asceti-
cism, quictism, and superstition
which is in itself one of the
most interesting studies in the
development of the monastic
life of the East.
On this shore, and on the
rocky sides of these hills no
woman has for ages been
allowed to set foot. The
metropolis of the district is the
little town called Caryes. Here
are all the essential features
of civilised life. The streets
contain bustling little shops,
and there is a bazaar thronged
with eager customers. Mule-
teers drive in and out the
town, coppersmiths ply their
tools, fruiterers pile up their
wares, boatmen lounge about, the monks
from various monasteries pass to and fro on
messages concerning the Holy Synod. But, as
travellers visiting Athos never fail to re-
mark, there is one charm entirely lacking.
No form or face is seen of mother. wife,
"sister, daughter, lover or infant. Many a
lively boy may be seen helping the merchants
of the wealthy monks, or driving the goats
and mules; but the merry laughter of maidens
and the musical songs of Greek or Turkish
ladies can never be heard in the streets of
Caryes or anywhere in all the Athonite
peninsula. V
Here in C.-iryes is a little Turkish garrison,
with oflicers, soldiers, and secular function-
arics. But not one of these Ottomans can
locate his harem anywhere in this celibate
land. All must live a bachelor life.
There are in the twenty romantic convents
of the “Mountain of the Monks” about six
thousand devotees. Some of these establish-
ments are exceedingly wealthy, having great
estates in Roumania,‘ Servia, Bulgaria, and
Russia. The largest monasteries have hun-
dreds of servants. Many of the convcnts are
seats of skilled industry, and some of the
monks are splendid musicians, others are ex-
cellent artists, and hundreds of the hermits
are profound students.
It is extraordinary that the exclusion of the
female sex should be so rigorously enforced
in connection with a system which at the same
time inculcates the most profound reverence
for the Virgin Mary. Strange to say, it is by
the Virgin herself that the perpetual banish-
ment of her own sex from Athos is believed
by the superstitious monks to have been de-
creed. In the beautiful monastery ofVatopcrli,
one of the richest of the Athonite establish-
ments, is one of those ‘' miraculous icons " so
precious in the eyes of priests and worshippers
of the Russo-Greek Church. The story im-
licitly credited is that this picture of the
‘Virgin one day called to the Empress Pul-
clicria as she was going to her devotions in
the great church, saying, ““'hat do you,
a woman, here? Depart from this church,
for women's feet shall no more tread this
floor l "
Now, it was this pious Empress Pulclieria
who had so iichl ’ beaiitified the church which
she loved so wcl in the monastery at Vam-
pedi. And ‘ct she was constrained to obey
this hard injunction. Never more did she
pray on that sacred floor, and never again did
she see those lovely columns with which her
munificence had adorned the church. And
from that hour no woman or female animal has
been permitted to set foot on the shores of the
Holy Mountain. If the rigid rule against
sex could be so applied, not a bird other-
wise than of the masculine gender would be
allowed to alight on twig or rock of the fair
promontory which is so glorious a mountain-
garden in the Eastern sea, that birds, angels,
and women might seem to be its most fitting
tenants.
Visitors, so long as they are of the male sex,
are treated at all the Athonite monasteries
with the most generous hos itality. But if a
fowl appears on the table of the lzcgoummor, or
abbot of one of these great monasteries when
entertaining his guests, it is sure to be a rooster,
for a hen must not enter this sacred land,
either alive or dead.
The fact is that throughout the Greek
Church the position allotted to woman is one
of great inferiority. XVhen looking at pictures
and relies in various cathedrals in Russia I
have noticed that ladies were not allowed to
approach the altar and to ascend the steps of
t e Iconastasis and to examine the sacred
relics. They must remain outside the lmna,
but sometimes the gentlemen ofthe part ' might
as a great favour take some relic to show to
the oor ladies.
T ese monks from the Holy Mountain will
astonish any visitor from the lVest by many a
singular custom, especially in relation to diet.
In the shops and bazaars of Carycs may be
seen one of the commonest articles of diet at
Athos, the devil-fish, hanging up for sale.
But the traveller who has been accustomed to
such a commodity as stewed octopus, finds it
difficult to reconcile himself to the prospect of
devil-fish for breakfast or supper. This tough
reptile, caught in abundance on the coast of
Athos, requires severe handling to deal with
his peculiar qualities before utting him into
the cooking-pot. To make him in any wise
tender he must be lifted up on high and
dashed down with all possible force on a
paving stone, and this tlagellating process
must be repeated at least forty times. The
monks, however, are perversely fond of cook-
ing everything they eat in rancid oil, and
therefore it may be imagined what is the
nature of some of the viands put before the
guest. Large black snails are particularly
esteemed. Glyko, a delicate Turkish sweet-
meat, served with coffee, is much more ac-
ccptablc.
Beautiful Athos! Lifting up its glorious
summit into the cloudless azure above the
sapphire sea in which it bathes its granite
fect, it is often visible from the Asiatic coast
eighty miles distant. Many a tourist, steam-
ing along the xligean, looks with wondering
eves at the far-ofl’ crest, and little thinks of
t e world of marvels hidden in that rocky
fastness, shut out as it is from the turmoil
and ambition of the modern world. Pilgrims
from many regions come :ind go, but for man
a year Athos will be spared the fate which
has overtaken many another lovelv and se-
cluded spot. The promontory hallowed for
more than a thousand years to the hearts of
the millions who worship according to the
teachings of the Orthodox Eastcm Church is
not as yet in danger of being overrun as a
playground of miscellaneous holiday-seelcers ;
ut the few who can diverge from the beaten
tracks of travel will be richly repaid by a visit
to this enchanting realm.
