In the autumn of 1991, I was studying architecture in Greece, and I made a journey that I have spent 35 years trying to adequately describe. Getting to Mount Athos requires a permit, a ferry from Ouranoupolis, and then a smaller boat along the coast of the peninsula. The mountain itself rises at the tip of the southernmost Chalkidiki finger to nearly 7,000 feet, its peak frequently disappearing into cloud. The monastic community calls it the Agion Oros — the Holy Mountain — without false modesty. Yes, I will be writing more on this. Pictured here: The Monastery of Simonos Petra