Strange place where women go will be sentenced to 12 years in prison

Not only women but also female animals are banned. The reason is because...

Mount Athos on the beautiful peninsula in Greece - the private world of Greek monks, and today has welcomed monks from Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia. As a peninsula of about 335 square kilometers, this place has welcomed many delegations from all over the world to visit but absolutely no woman is allowed to set foot here.

Women are forbidden from Mount Athos, a law that has been in place for over a thousand years. Women are not allowed to set foot here, and in fact, beardless men are not allowed, and female animals are not allowed either. But female cats are allowed to reside here because they can catch mice. And birds and insects - two species belonging to the sky, nature - are allowed to freely "circulate in the forbidden area".

To further explain why men don’t have beards, the law here says that women can disguise themselves as men and sneak in, so it was banned. But today, young boys without beards are still allowed in if they are accompanied by their fathers or male relatives.

This place is so strict that only men with good morals and appearance are allowed to come and attend ceremonies, eat with monks, and spend the night in the monastery. As for female visitors, they are forced to stay outside and visit from the boat.

The reason for this rule is for monks to strictly observe celibacy, so that they can be closer to God. Because since ancient times, women have always been considered the reason why monks become distracted from their religious practice.

Despite the strict rules, a woman tried to sneak in in 1953. Maria Poimenidou disguised herself as a man and stayed on Mount Athos for three days but was later discovered. This led the Greek government to impose a penalty of up to 12 years in prison if any woman came to visit or reside here.

However, there are exceptions. Many women have come here but they have not been punished. Legend has it that the Virgin Mary once stopped on Mount Athos to avoid a storm. Then she preached to the people living on the island. In addition, during times of war and epidemics, women and children were also welcomed. Or in 1347, Serbian Queen Jelena Kantakuzin took refuge here when a plague broke out. Even Serbian Princess Mara Brankovic visited this place to contribute to the renovation of the monastery on the mountain. Most recently, in 2008, 4 Moldavian women were left here by Ukrainian smugglers and of course, they were not charged or punished.

(Source: internet)