Karoulia: Where the hermits of Mount Athos livetranslated

Metal chains on steep rocks, to aid in climbing. Wooden stairs fixed on stones flirting with the void. Aerial pulleys, that is, reels, with which the monks carry food to their cells. Gooseberry trees, wild scrub vegetation and slippery ground. Just below, the vast deep blue of Mount Athos Bay. One wrong grip on the chains, one careless step, and you tumble into the sea. This is the arid and inhospitable landscape in Karoulia, the isolated ascetic region of Mount Athos, on the southwest side of the peninsula. They are administratively subordinate to the Holy Monastery of Megistis Lavra and got their name from the reels, which according to the stories of Agioreitis, in addition to supplies and materials, were once hoisted with a net and people.

Today, about ten hermits live here, three of whom are Greek and the rest are Serbian, Russian and Romanian. The caves, used by the older ascetics, have given way to improvised retreats and makeshift shelters made of sheet metal, stone, cement, whatever materials are available to everyone. The architecture of the minimum.

To get to…