We rose at the crack of dawn to catch the first shuttle bus. It was still pitch dark. Lavra possesses a great beauty at night too, and the muffled sounds accentuate the serenity. A final glance back at the entrance gate. A very bright light shines all night just around the corner from the gate, keeping the kiosk clearly visible. That is a pity, though it does sometimes make it possible to spot wild boars.

Today, October 6, 2026, journalist Kostas Mpourousis published an English-language article on the Greek website Tovima.com about the Athos app developed by Father Theologos. Megistas Lavra 2015 - with the weather staion on th tower? - photo Wim Voogd He is a monk at the Great Lavra and manages Athos Zone, a website founded in 2016 that has now been in existence for ten years.

This is the Tzimiskes Tower of the Lavra Monastery. The tower is named after the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes (reigned from 969 to 976). He was the monastery's most important early benefactor and financier. In 972, Emperor Tzimiskes signed the Tragos, the very first constitution that regulated the autonomy of the monastic community on Mount Athos. The tower dates from the 11th century.

A view of the phiale and the katholikon of the Great Lavra monastery from beneath the colonnades. In the foreground we find a well. The great variety of stone types used for the columns is striking — as if whatever materials were available were put to pragmatic use. Many of these column elements were likely re-used from a pre-Christian temple. The same applies to the capitals, which appear in various styles; several are on display around the well.

We arrived at the Megisti Lavra Monastery, the oldest and largest monastery on Athos, fairly early in the afternoon. So, we had some time to relax after three days of hiking. I always love taking a leisurely walk in and around Lavra and snapping a few photos — without disturbing the monks or other pilgrims. Seeking out the quiet, deserted spots.

Today, August 31, 2026, marks exactly 20 years since I started this blog to inform my 5 friends and fellow pilgrims, including my brother Herman, about the trip to Athos scheduled for May next year (in Dutch). Now, 20 years later, we have posted 2,421 entries, the blog has been viewed more than 1,500,000 times, and we attract an average of more than 28,000 visitors and 100,000 views per year.

Arsanas Megisti Lavra 2017 (photo Wim Voogd) The port infrastructure project of Megisti Lavra on Mount Athos is approaching completion. The project was included in the European Recovery and Resilience Fund on September 7, 2023, with implementation officially starting on July 1, 2023. The final completion deadline has now been set for August 31, 2026. The project aims to fundamentally improve safe maritime…

In a supplement titled "Our Places," the Greek newspaper published an article with photos about the FoMA on Mount Athos on July 26, 2026. Journalist George Psomiadis and photographer Dimitris Tosides followed the "hiking team," a team that spends the night in a different monastery. The team was led by Dimitris Bakalis, who also led my team during the first week of May this year, as part of the project organized by FoMA to clear hiking trails.

In a very thorough and informative article on the website criticaltexts.com, Dr. Katie Leggett writes about the history of the Greek New Testament manuscript tradition on Athos. It is a historical overview of the texts that were once found on Athos and often still lie there, with beautiful tables of the number of manuscripts, arranged chronologically and as they are distributed across the monasteries and other locations on Athos.

Coming from Kerisiá we quite quickly found the high-altitude path between Stavros and Prodromou. It lays about 150 meters above Kerasiá, where we had spent the night. It is a magnificent walk through virtually unspoiled nature. This is the least inhabited part of Athos; there are no roads for cars here, only donkey tracks and footpaths. There are several steep side paths branching off to the right, leading to Kavsokalivia and Nelios.

Aerial of the Vatopedi monastery and surroundings (photo by Wim Voogd 2017) A new € 3.4 million regional medical centre will be built at the monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos, funded by the Region of Central Macedonia. The facility will provide healthcare services to monks and pilgrims, addressing a longstanding gap in medical care. Designed to blend with Mount Athos’ unique architectural and natural surroundings, the centre will include two underground levels,each about 400 m², and one above-ground wing of about 150 m², using materials that match the local environment.

All team members of the groups who were assigned for the first week on the ferry to Dafni In May of this year, I had the honor of being part of one of the FoMA teams for clearing hiking trails, together with five other members. Our task was to clear paths from the monastery of Dionysiou (towards Agiou Pavlou and Grigoriou) and from the monastery of Docheiariou uphill (towards Vatopedi and Karyes).

Just a few weeks before my fellow pilgrims Bas and Herman visited this cell in October 2025 (see earlier posts on this blog), we also had the opportunity to spend a night in Kerasiá (23-9-2025). Lavra- Kerasia: 16 km's We started our hike in Lavra and two of us chose to take the lower path along the Megali Sara/Dendrogalia, which in hindsight was perhaps not such a wise decision, as the path was difficult to navigate due to the steep slopes and the poor quality of the path with the many loose stones, as you can see on the footage below: …

The Region of Central Macedonia has approved seven restoration and infrastructure projects at monasteries on Mount Athos, funded through the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) with a total budget of € 5.3 million. The projects aim to preserve the unique cultural and religious heritage of Mount Athos while improving the safety and functionality of its historic buildings. The works include:

After a long, tiring journey from Dionysiou, we finally reached Kerasiá in the late afternoon. It didn't take us too much effort to find the Kellion. We were received most warmly and were given water and sweets to help us recover a bit. We enjoyed the refreshments on the terrace in front of the chapel. Afterwards, we went to the church, where the service had already begun.

On May 28, 2026 the website halkidinews.gr published an article about the plans to restore the historic Athoniada school. The text below is taken from their website: Athonia Academy near Vatopedi in 2017 (photo Wim Voogd) "One of the most important monuments of the Athonian heritage, the historic Athonia Ecclesiastical Academy on Mount Athos, is set to undergo restoration thanks to funding secured by the Region of Central Macedonia from the NSRF (or ESPA) …

After the break at Skiti Anna, we continued our way for the final leg of the day to our destination, Kerasiá. Jacques points the way up. From Skiti Anna, the path rises steeply, mainly via steps. There are far fewer mules on this route. Tthe steps are considerably cleaner and less smelly. The path ascends on the north side of a gorge.

On June 3th 2026 this Tweet was posted on X: "This is the last tweet from @MountAthos on (X): too much uncontrolled hate and lies on X. This is no longer compatible with our subject, The Holy Mountain, which should be about peace, love, faith and beauty. Athosweblog will continue on Bluesky: Dionysiou: terracotta vessels I you feel like it, please follow us on Bluesky from now on (and download the App). Herman and Wim Voogd, 7-6-2026

Dionysiou: terracotta vesseld On June 3th was the last tweet from @MountAthos on (X). Too much uncontrolled hate and lies on X. This is no longer compatible with our subject, The Holy Mountain, which should be about peace, love, faith and beauty. will continue. Now on Bluesky

The large marble altar One of our readers, Japetus from Greece, published this item on Reddit about an large marble altar found on a hill close to Kerasia: Known as “Edolion” to the mon…

We were dropped off by a pickup truck at the entrance to the Paulou monastery. We went in to take a look around. The view from the balcony of the guesthouse in Paulou. In recent years, hard work ha…