Moscow, December 21, 2016
Thanks to an expansive site launched earlier this year, Mt. Athos, the Holy Mountain, is now open to all “visitors,” whether man, woman, or child.
The site, MountAthos360°, developed over the past three years, offers a unique and breathtaking online view of life on the Holy Mountain, with sections dedicated to the twenty main monasteries as well as the main sketes and cells, and even caves of the ascetics. Undertaken with the blessings of the monks and elders, the site aims to “display Athonite monasticism and Orthodox monastic spirituality, for the glory of God.”
Free of charge, the site offers both still photos and rotating 360° views and the history of the Holy Mountain itself along with its various monastic dwellings. Registered users can also upload their own personal photos from pilgrimages to the Garden of the Mother of God, as Mt. Athos is also known.
One of the site’s highlights is a virtual tour of the various monastic dwellings of the much-loved St. Paisios the Athonite.
The chapel inside St. Paisios' Panagouda cell
Useful information, such as telephone numbers and bus and ferry schedules, for planning trips to Mt. Athos is also presented.
There is also an option to offer donations which go towards supporting missionaries and NGOs in Greece and Africa “who support vulnerable fellow human beings on a daily basis… The name of the group, GIVE LOVE, was inspired by an everyday expression of the monks of Mount Athos which is factually present in all their daily activities.”
The site offers content in English, Greek, and Russian.
