Out of sync
Mount Athos follows the Julian calendar, so all local dates, including those on diamonitiria, are 13 days behind the rest of the Gregorian world.
A fair bit of advance preparation and battling with bureaucracy is necessary to visit Mount Athos, since only 100 Orthodox and 10 non-Orthodox visitors per day are permitted.
A permit diamonitirion is required for both individuals and groups. This is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate of Churches at No 2, Zalokosta Street, in Athens, tel: 210 3626 894 or by the Ministry of Northern Greece, Directorate of Civil Affairs at Diikitiriou Square in Thessaloniki, tel. 2310 270.092.
Women are not admitted into the territory.
Overnight stay is forbidden to those under 18.
Diamonitiria permits to stay as a pilgrim are issued by the offices of Mount Athos, at Ouranoupolis on the right side of the port. In order to get their diamonitirion visitors must show their identity cards and pay the sum of €18 Orthodox visitors, €30 non-Orthodox or €10 non-Orthodox but student. Foreign visitors also need a passport; if you are Orthodox but not Greek, you will need to prove this a letter from a priest or a baptismal certificate will do.
First contact the Pilgrims' Bureau address below. They may need plenty of notice of your proposed visit - up to six months if you plan to visit during the summer months of June, July, and August when the monasteries are full to over-flowing with Greek and Orthodox pilgrims, but as little as a few days outside the peak season.
Contact:
Once you have gained permission from the Pilgrims' Bureau you must contact each monastery where you plan to stay. Without their consent you will be turned away. A good site for further details of monasteries and how to contact each one by phone or fax is here.
The "general diamonitirion" usually granted to visitors allows you to stay a maximum of three days, visiting monasteries at will. The more rare "special diamonitirion" allows an unlimited stay at only one monastery.
