Athos Sights: Mount Athos Boat Cruises, the Byzantine Tower & Ancient Stageira
The headline sight of the Athos peninsula is the Mount Athos boat cruise: tour boats leave Ouranoupoli, Ierissos and Nea Roda to see the coastal monasteries of the Holy Mountain from the sea. In Ouranoupoli's port stands the Byzantine Andronikos tower of 1344, and the east coast adds ancient Stageira, the birthplace of Aristotle, near Olympiada. Ancient Akanthos at Ierissos and the Xerxes channel at Nea Roda round out the history.
- Monasteries
- 20
- Ouranoupoli tower
- 1344
- Aristotle
- Ancient Stageira
- Capital
- Karyes
Mount Athos boat cruises
The best way to see Mount Athos is by boat, because the monastic peninsula stays closed to casual visitors. Tour boats leave Ouranoupoli, which sits opposite Ammouliani island, and also run from Ierissos and Nea Roda along the east coast, passing the coastal monasteries from the sea. The peninsula holds 20 monasteries, the oldest and most important being Megisti Lavra, founded in 963 on a rock in the south-east. An ancient law forbids a road between the capital Karyes and the outside world, so the monasteries are still reached only by boat or narrow path. Landing is limited to men who hold a permit for religious or study reasons, granted for a maximum stay of four days, so the cruise is how most travellers see the Holy Mountain.
The Byzantine Andronikos tower
The Byzantine Andronikos tower stands in the port of Ouranoupoli, the last town before the peninsula and the gateway to Mount Athos. It was built in 1344 by order of the Vatopediou monastery and is the highest tower in Halkidiki. From the port beside it, excursion boats leave for the Athos coast and for the Drios islets that lie opposite the town, and ferries cross to Ammouliani.
Ancient Stageira, birthplace of Aristotle
Ancient Stageira stands about 1 kilometre east of Olympiada on the peninsula's east coast, and it is the birthplace of the philosopher Aristotle. The site sits beside Aristotle's Park, so a visit pairs the ruins with the parkland. Olympiada makes the natural base, with rooms 20 to 150 metres from its beach; the village and its east-coast beach are covered in the beaches guide.
Ancient Akanthos and the Xerxes channel
Ierissos is built on ancient Akanthos, founded in the 7th century BC by settlers from Andros. The old town has never been excavated, but part of the coastal cemetery has, uncovering 600 graves. At Nea Roda, on the narrow neck of the peninsula, the Persian king Xerxes had a channel dug in 480 BC to give his fleet passage, and archaeological remains from antiquity survive in the village.
