The peninsula of Athos is the easternmost and roughest of the three separate parallel
peninsulas (Kassandra or Pallini, Logos or Sithonia - central, and Athos or Mount Athos)
that make up the peninsula of Halkidiki.
According to a Russian tradition, the Virgin Mary herself appeared in the area and the
inhabitants converted to Christianity. Specifically, the Mother of God together with
John the Evangelist, sailing past Athos, going to Cyprus to visit Lazarus, due to a
terrible sea storm, they landed on the coast where the Holy Monastery of the Iberians
is today. There, the Mother of God admiring the place, a voice was heard from heaven
that said: "Let this place be your lot and garden and paradise, and let it be a savior
harbor for those who want to be saved". ". A visit to Mount Athos is for most an
experience of a lifetime. Almost everyone when they take the way back make a promise
to themselves that one day they will return. Mount Athos consists of twenty Holy
Monasteries of which 17 are Greek, one is Russian, one is Serbian and one is Bulgarian.
