Greek monk Mihailo Tolotos lived his entire 82 years in the mountainous region of Athos, where women were forbidden.
In 1856, just four hours after Tolotos was born, his mother died. Since no one else in the family came forward to adopt him, Tolotos was left on the steps of a monastery in the Athos mountains. He was raised by Eastern Orthodox monks, and the monastery gave him the name Mihailo Tolotos. Throughout his life, Tolotos lived according to the strict rules of the region.
In 1060, a law was promulgated prohibiting all women, including female animals, from entering the Athos Mountains, which is actually a peninsula spanning over 330 square kilometers. This law remains in effect to this day, making it the largest area in the world where women are forbidden.
A monk stands on a ferry looking towards the Dionysiou Monastery, one of 20 monasteries in the Athos Mountains region of northern Greece. Photo: Guardian
Dr. Graham Speake, author of a book on the history of Mount Athos, says the law was introduced to ensure monks maintained their sacred vow of celibacy for life. Women have been banned from monasteries in many places for similar reasons, but what makes Mount Athos unique is that the entire area "is considered one giant monastery."
The absence of female animals also meant that eggs or milk could not be produced there. Therefore, cheese and other animal products had to be brought in from the "outside" world. Monks were also forbidden from shaving their beards and had to keep their beards long to ensure that no women could blend in.
Orthodox monks in Greece in 1907. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
While many other monks had seen women before joining the monastery, Tolotos's life, from childhood to adulthood, was intertwined with the Athos mountain region.
The monks of Mount Athos could have easily left the monastery to venture into the wider world and meet someone of the opposite sex, but Tolotos never set foot outside his birthplace.
He died in 1938 at the age of 82 and was buried with special rites by the monks of Mount Athos. They believed he was the only man in the world who had never met a woman.
Tolotos's death was documented in a newspaper article at the time. "Monk dies in Greece without ever having met a woman" was the title of an article about Tolotos published in the Edinburgh Daily Courier on October 29, 1938.
Accordingly, apart from women, he had never actually seen many other things. He had never seen a car, an airplane, or even watched a movie.
An article in the Edinburgh Daily Courier from 1938 mentions the death of the monk Mihailo Tolotos. Photo: Greek Reporter .
Although the centuries-old ban on women remains intact, women have actually set foot in the Athos mountains on numerous occasions throughout history. During the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), monks in the Athos mountains allowed farmers to hide their livestock there. A group on the opposing side, including women and girls, entered Athos to seize the livestock.
Not long after, a Greek woman named Maria Poimenidou dressed as a man and spent three days in Athos. Her intrusion caused such a stir in the local community that the Greek government issued a regulation stating that it was illegal for women to enter Athos and anyone attempting to do so could be imprisoned for up to 12 months.
Today, the Athos region is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to 20 monasteries with approximately 2,000 Eastern Orthodox monks. Each day, 100 male Orthodox believers and 15 non-Orthodox men are permitted to visit the peninsula.
Vu Hoang (Based on Vintage News, Greek Reporter )
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