The Esphigmenou Monastery is the only monastery on Mount Athos that has severed all ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate—and has maintained this break for over 30 years. Today, 110 monks live in the monastery without electricity or external supplies, surviving solely on what they produce themselves.
“Why doesn’t the monastery have electricity?”
“Because if electricity comes in, comfort follows. A monk shouldn’t live in luxury. We’ll end up as laymen in robes.”
The doctrinal differences between the Esphigmenou monks and the leadership of the Orthodox Church have deepened in recent years, escalating to the point of open conflict. In the summer of 2013, a photo of a monk holding a Molotov cocktail during clashes in Karyes went viral in Greek media. A year later, in October 2014, police raided the Thessaloniki konaki (dependency) of Esphigmenou Monastery to enforce a court order transferring the property on Venizelou Street to the Patriarchate-recognized “New Brotherhood of Esphigmenites.”
Soon after, rumors circulated that a visitor suspected of being a "spy" for the new brotherhood had been held hostage inside the monastery for taking photos without the abbot’s permission.
This long-standing conflict began in 1972 and involves two opposing sides: On one side are about 80 zealous monks still living in the main monastery, considered schismatic by the Orthodox Church. On the other side stands the officially recognized monastic brotherhood of Esphigmenou (currently comprising 23 monks), which temporarily resides in a konaki in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos.
The split was triggered in 1972, when Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras met with Pope Paul VI to lift the centuries-old mutual excommunications and promote reconciliation between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The monks of Esphigmenou viewed this gesture as a betrayal of Orthodoxy. In protest, they stopped commemorating Patriarch Athenagoras—and later, his successors Dimitrios and Bartholomew—in their liturgies.
However, according to the governing charter of Mount Athos and Greek law, all monastic communities on the peninsula must acknowledge the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch. By refusing to commemorate the Patriarch, the monks effectively placed themselves outside the legal and spiritual framework of the Athonite community.
Their stance grew even more complicated when they aligned themselves with the Old Calendarist movement, which is officially considered a separate religious denomination by the Greek Council of State. Legally speaking, members of a different denomination are not permitted to reside on Mount Athos. Still, the Esphigmenou monks, now identifying as “Genuine Orthodox Christians” (G.O.C.), barricaded themselves inside the monastery and have refused to leave, even after being expelled from the Holy Community, the ruling body of Mount Athos.
VICE Gains Rare Access to the Defiant Monastery
VICE was granted rare access to this defiant monastery—the only “unsubmissive” outpost of Orthodoxy on Mount Athos. This exclusive visit offered a glimpse into the lives of the so-called “rebels” of the Holy Mountain. For three days, VICE journalists experienced the strict lifestyle of these monks, documenting both the hardship they endure and their ongoing effort to remain self-sufficient and spiritually autonomous—completely disconnected from the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
