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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Women have been banned from the paradisiacal Mount Athos for over 1,000 years. Source: Alexey Achepovsky / Adobe Stock

For 1,000 Years, Monks of Mt Athos Have Banned Women and Female Animals!

Believe it or not, but beside men’s toilets, gentlemen’s clubs and certain temples, there is actually an entire peninsula in northern Greece, now a semiautonomous republic of Eastern Orthodox monks,...
Viking holding Christian cross. Credit: Warpedgalerie / Adobe Stock

Vikings Didn’t Just Murder Monks and Pillage Monasteries – They Helped Spread Christianity Too

Vikings are often seen as heathen marauders mercilessly targeting Christian churches and killing defenceless monks. But this is only part of their story. The Vikings played a key role in spreading...
St. Benedict of the Benedictines receiving Totila, king of the Ostrogoths. Source: Paklao / Public Domain.

The Rule of the Benedictines, the Black Monks of Europe

The Order of St. Benedict ( Ordo Sancti Benedicti in Latin, abbreviated as OSB), known also as the Benedictines (sometimes referred to as Black Monks, due to the color of their religious habits), is...
At the Monastery Gate by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1846)

The Plight of the Poor: Monastic Charity and Almonries in Medieval England

Until recently, it was believed that monasteries were lax and inefficient in distributing alms to the poor, but Dr. Neil Rushton ’s research indicates that monastic almonries in medieval England were...
One of the 40 monasteries on the Holy Mount Athos.

Mount Athos – Garden of the Mother of God and Holiest of Holy Mountains to Some

Mount Athos, known also as the Holy Mountain, is a mountain located in Greece. The site is a semi-autonomous republic of Eastern Orthodox monks and is considered to be one of the holiest places of...