A History of the Athonite Commonwealth : The Spiritual and Cultural Diaspora of Mount Athos

Explores how for 1,000 years Mount Athos has played a unique role in facilitating the spread of Orthodoxy throughout Eastern Europe and beyond. As purveyors of spiritual and mystical ideas, the monks have exerted considerable influence not only on ecclesiastical affairs but also on politics, culture, and the arts.

This book examines the part played by monks of Mount Athos in the diffusion of Orthodox monasticism throughout Eastern Europe and beyond. It focuses on the lives of outstanding holy men in the history of Orthodoxy who have been drawn to the Mountain, have absorbed the spirit of its wisdom and its prayer, and have returned to the outside world, inspired to spread the results of their labours and learning. In a remarkable demonstration of what may be termed ''soft power'' in action, these men have carried the image of Athos to all corners of the Balkan peninsula, to Ukraine, to the very far north of Russia, across Siberia and the Bering Strait into North America, and most recently (when traditional routes were closed to them by the curtain of communism) to the West. Their dynamic witness is the greatest gift of Athos to a world thirsting for spiritual guidance.