Editing Mount Athos (section)

=== Early Christianity ===
[[File:Athos peninsula.jpg|thumb|The peninsula as seen from the summit of Mount Athos]]

According to the Athonite tradition, the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]] was sailing accompanied by St [[John the Evangelist]] from [[Jaffa|Joppa]] to [[Cyprus]] to visit [[Lazarus of Bethany|Lazarus]]. When the ship was blown off course to then-pagan Athos, it was forced to anchor near the port of Klement, close to the present monastery of Iviron. The Virgin walked ashore and, overwhelmed by the mountain's wonderful and wild natural beauty, she blessed it and asked her Son for it to be her garden. A voice was heard saying, {{lang|grc|{{"-}}Ἔστω ὁ τόπος οὗτος κλῆρος σὸς καὶ περιβόλαιον σὸν καὶ παράδεισος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ λιμὴν σωτήριος τῶν θελόντων σωθῆναι"}} (Translation: "Let this place be your inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for those seeking to be saved"). From that moment the mountain was consecrated as the garden of the Mother of God and was out of bounds to all other women.<ref group="note">St Gregory Palamas included this tradition in his book ''Life of Petros the Athonite'', p. 150, 1005 AD.</ref>

Historical documents on ancient Mount Athos history are very few. Monks have certainly been there since the fourth century, and possibly since the third. During [[Constantine I]]'s reign (324–337) both Christians and followers of traditional Greek religion were living there. During the reign of [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] (361–363), the churches of Mount Athos were destroyed, and Christians hid in the woods and inaccessible places.<ref>{{cite book |last=Speake |first=Graham |date=2002 |title=Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise |publisher=Yale University Press |page=27 |isbn=0-300-093535}}</ref>

Later, during [[Theodosius I]]'s reign (379–395), the temples of the traditional Greek religion were destroyed. The lexicographer [[Hesychius of Alexandria]] states that in the fifth century, there was still a temple and a statue of "[[Zeus]] Athonite". After the [[Islamic conquest of Egypt]] in the seventh century, many Orthodox monks from the Egyptian desert tried to find another calm place; some of them came to the Athos peninsula. An ancient document states that monks "built huts of wood with roofs of straw ... and by collecting fruit from the wild trees were providing themselves improvised meals."<ref>Biography of Saint Athanasius the Athonite</ref>