Mount Athos

I thought I could never receive a cover from Mt. Athos. This came to me as a surprise. Thanks!!!!!

These 2 covers were posted in Karyes. Karyes (Greek: Καρυές) is a settlement in Mount Athos. It is the seat of the clerical and secular administration of the Athonite monastic state. The 2001 Greek census reported a population of 233 inhabitants. It is the largest settlement in Mount Athos.

Mount Athos (Greek: Όρος Άθως, Oros Athos) is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Helleni...c Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Today Greeks commonly refer the Mount Athos as the "Holy Mountain" (Greek: Άγιον Όρος, Agion Oros/Hagion Oros). In Classical times, the peninsula was called Akté (Ακτή) (sometimes Acte or Akte).

In 2008 the Hellenic Postal Service started issuing postage stamps for postal use only at the two post offices of Mount Athos (Karyai and Dafni). The first set of 5 stamps was issued on May 16, 2008. The Hellenic Post issues the modern era Mount Athos stamps despite opposition from the Philatelic Federation (Ελληνική Φιλοτελική Ομοσπονδία) and the Hellenic Philatelic Society. A second set of five stamps was issued on June 13, 2008, according to the published programme.