Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides arrived at Mount Athos on Saturday for a personal pilgrimage, visiting some of th...

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides arrived at Mount Athos on Saturday for a personal pilgrimage, visiting some of the peninsula's most sacred sites before returning home on Sunday. He was received by the Holy Community in Karyes, the administrative capital of the monastic state, and venerated the icon of the Virgin Mary known as "Axion Esti" at the Church of the Protaton, one of the most revered relics in Orthodox Christianity. Christodoulides then visited the Monastery of Gregoriou, where Abbot Elder Christoforos and the brotherhood received him, before continuing to the Monastery of Vatopedi later in the afternoon. This is his second visit to Athos as president. He first traveled there in March 2024, having originally been invited in October 2023 but postponing the trip after the outbreak of the Gaza crisis. Mount Athos has been a center of Orthodox monastic life since 963, when Saint Athanasios founded the Great Lavra, the oldest of the twenty monasteries still active on the peninsula. It passed to Greek sovereignty during the Balkan Wars in 1912, gained its current self-governing constitution in 1924, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. Access remains restricted to men only. #Cyprus #MountAthos #Orthodox