The Monastery of Simonos Petra clings almost impossibly to a sheer cliff above the Aegean Sea in northern Greece.
Also known as Simonopetra or Simon’s Rock, the Christian Orthodox monastery transcends country-based branches of the faith by embracing monks from across the world, including converts from non-Orthodox nations.
The monastery is one of 20 in the autonomous all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, known in Greek as Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain. The peninsula is no stranger to foreigners. Of the 20 monasteries, one is Russian, one is Bulgarian and one is Serbian, and the presence of monks from other nations is not unusual.
But it is in Simonos Petra where the greatest range of nationalities lies.
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