The autonomous monastic republic of Athos houses 20 monasteries and is administered by their abbots. Megisti Lavra, the oldest and largest of these monasteries, was built in 960 AD.
Monk choir
The autonomous monastic republic of Athos houses 20 monasteries and is administered by their abbots. Megisti Lavra, the oldest and largest of these monasteries, was built in 960 AD. After a period of crisis and decline, life in the monastic communities is flourishing again today. Spiritual heritage and rich tradition are revived. Currently there are around 3000 monks living on Ágion Óros, the Holy Mountain. An eight-piece choir (4 clerics, 4 laymen) of the Brotherhood of the Apostle Thomas, who belong to Megisti Lavra, will come to Switzerland in the autumn. They will sing hymns to saints and their lives, as well as sacred songs from the last 1000 years of Byzanti-ne Christianity.