Mount Athos Treasures On View To Women After 1,000 Years

For the first time in almost 1,000 years, many of the legendary Byzantine treasures of Mount Athos in Greece are on view to women.

Almost 200 works of art from the male-only Orthodox enclave in northern Greece are on show at the Petit Palais in Paris until July. Most of the works have never previously left the peninsula, from which women - and even most female animals - have been banned since 1045.

The 20 monasteries of Mount Athos house one of the largest collections of Christian art in the world. Direct access to these treasures is notoriously difficult to obtain for men, and impossible for women.

But Paris has been granted the privilege of hosting this "world premiere", largely as a result of France's presidency of the EU last year. The Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dora Bakoyannis, described the exhibition as a "cultural event of the first order".

"The treasures exhibited here are a part of European culture," Ms Bakoyannis said. "A large number of these relics are going 'beyond the walls' of Mount Athos for public viewing for the first time by men and women."

Previously, only two very small exhibitions have been held of Mount Athos artefacts, both in Greece. The director of the Petit Palais, Gilles Chazal, said: "The monks of Mount Athos have been very enthusiastic in their support of this project." He added that the exhibition would be "hugely significant".

The original decree banning women, and female animals (except cats, which help control the rat population), from the enclave was issued by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos in 1045. Under Greek law, a breach of the ban by a woman can still lead to a jail sentence. The ban on female animals is enforced as strictly as possible. The monks maintain that the presence of women slows their path towards spiritual enlightenment.

Particularly spectacular are the displays of imperial gifts which include "one of the most remarkable objects of metalwork of the Byzantine world": a chalice belonging to Manuel Cantacuzène (1349-1380), the son of Emperor Jean VI Cantacuzène, made from a single piece of jasper and most likely of Venetian origin.

The exhibition will remain at the Petit Palais until 5 July.

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Comments

[TequilaMockingbird]

01:01 PM on 05/07/2009

After reading the comments.. I must say.. I guess I am one of those women who believe in Sacred Spaces for both Men and Women.. and see nothing so terrible in same sex communities who have come together and devoted themselves to spiritual purposes. I think that commands more respect than the satisfaction of a momentary curiosity. all that being said..I am very curious about this collection and hope that the texts will be translated for the internets..

I hope that some day that more illuminating artifacts are discovered/shown to the public from some of the Earth Religions that predated the Sky God Religions..

[JohnFromCensornati]

10:31 AM on 05/07/2009

Diogenis said: You are quite insistent on playing the part of a martyr.

Vocabulary lesson for the day:

martyr – noun
1. a person who willingly suffers de@th rather than renounce his or her religion.
2. a person who is put to de@th or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause.
3. a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering.
4. a person who seeks sympathy or attention by feigning or exaggerating p@in, depriv@tion, etc.

None of that sounds like me. See my response below (to min syn) where I said that “I really don’t feel wounded” and "I don't have a harrowing story to tell". Thanks for playing.

[JohnFromCensornati]

10:34 AM on 05/07/2009

BTW - Next time you invite me to share, I'll keep in mind that it is just because you want an opportunity to @tt@ck poor, poor pitiful me.

[Diogenis]

09:11 PM on 05/07/2009

play the roll of martyr.

[Paulo1]

09:53 AM on 05/07/2009

I personally applaud the monks and hope that this will lead to more places opening their collections. As a historian I know that much of the best material never makes it into the public record because it is hidden away in collections like this. Sometimes for the noble cause of assuring its preservation and sometimes on more base grounds.
Rumor has persisted for years about old biblical translations, details of early Church leaders, copies of pagan religious texts and many other items that would cast some doubt on Christian teachings being squirreled away at the Vatican. I look forward to the day when these Churches place all of their material online digitally for other scholars to see and so that the complete surviving record is available.

[zenofan]

09:49 AM on 05/07/2009

I like to be able to take a look at those texts, too. Would they be on view here in the states, sometime in the future?

[Diogenis]

09:54 AM on 05/07/2009

Hopefully they will be made available.

[MJinCanada]

11:42 AM on 05/07/2009

If not, hopefully they will make it into a digital database. Several British and European universities have been putting medieval manuscripts online.

[zenofan]

09:16 AM on 05/07/2009

Actually, keeping women out of Athos does not necessarily mean there was no sex in Athos.

[zenofan]

09:13 AM on 05/07/2009

Women were not allowed to visit Mount Athos? Not even the female animals? Wow!! If I ever heard a sick doctrine!!! Constantin sounds worse than the Ayatollas. I never heard of them discriminating against female animals, for example. By the way, how do they keep the female animals from Athos unless they keep al life forms out there? Bees for example are necessary for pollination. Imagine, bugs, birds, flies, squirrells, etc...kept out of a place...no female possums please, hey you female sheep, off the holy ground!!! Oherwise you would corrupt me...lol!!

-Something is very twisted in this logic...
-Is this the only way they could keep their sexual urges in check? Even a female animal would turn them on? LOLLL!!!
-Of course it is more than that. It is about "fear" of the "other half" but we need another fifty years of evolution before we understand these things...

-Greeks were not stupid. Their political and religious leaders were...

[MJinCanada]

11:50 AM on 05/07/2009

It is a MONASTIC community. As in, all monks. They even did their own cooking and sewing. Most monks never ever left the place and they are buried in crypts there.

Interestingly, early Christian monasteries were co-ed institutions. However, church leaders decided it would be easier on those who took vows of chastity (or were forced to) to separate convents from monasteries.

At the time, monasteries and convents were also places where the offspring of the rich and noble were educated. However the system was abuse: Third or 4th sons could be handed off to the church to keep things peaceful inheritance-wise. Discarded wives and mistresses and excess daughters were also dumped in convents.

[Diogenis]

09:03 AM on 05/07/2009

I object with the headline of this article, which has turned turned the discussion in an issue of sexism. The article clearly states that the treasures will be available for viewing by both men and women.

[normathumb]

08:51 AM on 05/07/2009

See, by keeping women out, none of those men will be tempted into sex with women.

[Diogenis]

09:53 AM on 05/07/2009

That is not the reason why women are not allowed in the monasteries. First, keep in mind, it is a male monastery. There are female monasteries in Greece also. Mount Athos was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, according to her wishes. For more information you may appreciate reading The Life of the Virgin Mary, The Theotokos, written and compiled by Orthodox nuns at the Holy Apostles Convent in Buena Vista, Colorado.

[chaya]

10:30 AM on 05/07/2009

Your Grekophilic high-flown sentiments aside, this is only a modern-day remnant of Greek patriarchy, which achieved levels most people today are unaware of. It survives only in their hatred of gays and their desire to keep Mt. Athos "pure"--free of feminine contamination. These are people whose male gods mate with rocks and sprout baby gods from their heads.

[zosky]

08:58 AM on 05/08/2009

oh spare me! Sexism is difficult to disguise. We will have to remember that the byzantine period was also a period of religious chauvunism. That is why it was a man's only region. Isn't that what the muslims do today? keep the men holy by restricting the freedom of women? And yes in the byzantine period more areas were restricted to women than just an area on mt altos.
Saying the virgin mary was allowed so that means they weren't sexist is like a guy saying they think Halle Berry is pretty therefore they are attracted to black women. Can't get away with that one either. The virgin mary was allowed because:
1. She is dead
2. She gave them their beloved jesus
3. She is the "best" of women in their estimation.
Let's call it what it was: unadulterated chauvunism

[mergina]

07:59 AM on 05/07/2009

Finally. Men s**^K sometimes.

[Diogenis]

09:24 AM on 05/07/2009

Your bitterness in life will consume you.

[Justice Wainwright]

08:26 PM on 05/07/2009

To be fair, she said "sometimes:. Wouldnt that mean her bitterness will consume her life only part of the time?

Also to be fair, you have left a plethora of comments on this page. We get it, you think the title is misleading. Make one statement clearly and well and then you dont have to repeat yourself :)

Yay for less wasted time!

[popart]

06:50 AM on 05/07/2009

beware of women.....oooh scary stuff these female entities....oh i am so afraid...

[meemu]

05:49 AM on 05/07/2009

So....

The original decree banning women, and female animals (except cats, which help control the rat population), from the enclave was issued by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos in 1045. Under Greek law, a breach of the ban by a woman can still lead to a jail sentence. The ban on female animals is enforced as strictly as possible. The monks maintain that the presence of women slows their path towards spiritual enlightenment.

women are still being blamed for the weakness of men, all over the world.

[Diogenis]

09:56 AM on 05/07/2009

The title and content of this article are misleading.

[classicalgeek]

02:07 AM on 05/07/2009

It's unfortunate that there is so much ignorance of the Orthodox church.

[MadeleineA]

07:26 AM on 05/07/2009

It is unfortunate there is so much ignorance IN the orthodox church.

[Diogenis]

09:22 AM on 05/07/2009

You speak of things you do not know.

[classicalgeek]

11:35 AM on 05/07/2009

Oh, sorry, MadeleineA. I didn't realize you were Orthodox. (Disclaimer: I am Orthodox)

[Spencaa]

01:54 AM on 05/07/2009

I remember reading a story about this many years ago, where a group of hiking women who accidentally stumbled upon the place where arrested and almost convicted. Can you believe something like that happening in a western nation? Despicable. They were let off in the end.

I'm so glad they allowed this though

[minimalist syntax]

12:49 AM on 05/08/2009

Mt. Athos is an autonomous state. Anyone who illegally breeches to borders of any country is subject to prosecution. Male hikers who did the same would have also been subject to arrest. I am glad we are nations of laws in the West.

[Gayrove]

10:27 PM on 05/06/2009

There was no regulation against women looking at or reading anything, including any treasure or piece of bread, or rubbish from Mt. Athos. The newsworthy event is that Mt. Athos is allowing some of its treasures to be taken off the mountain that were never previously allowed off the Mountain.
The article, however, ignorantly and provocatively, would have us believe that some benighted monks on an obscure mountainous peninsula have been hiding Holy Scriptures and Sacred Icons from female view.
That is dishonest reporting par excellence! Not only dishonest reporting par excellence, but par for the course.

[BigBagel]

10:34 PM on 05/06/2009

Women are banned from Mt. Athos. No? I don't know? What's worse?

[henrypapillon]

11:41 PM on 05/06/2009

Hello! No readez-vous le article' ? Tu es wrongezvous? No? Si vous Plait? Le femmes no admitter!

[LilyFengari]

12:55 AM on 05/07/2009

That doesn't mean they are not in principle allowed to see the iconography and sacred art from Mount Athos, it just means they were not physically able to behold it until now.

[Diogenis]

10:21 PM on 05/06/2009

The title is misleading.

[JohnFromCensornati]

10:34 PM on 05/06/2009

You promised to leave. Thou shalt not bear false witness or something like that.

[minimalist syntax]

10:42 PM on 05/06/2009

I promised to leave for a while too! Now I have to go or the store will close.

[Diogenis]

09:21 AM on 05/07/2009

Grow up. No one is intimidated by you.