This report was issued by The Sofia News Agency, Nov. 15, 2004.
Reprinted with permission
Bulgaria's President left on Monday for Mount Athos, where he celebrated the holiday of the Bulgarian Zographou Monastery.
On his two-day visit, President Georgi Parvanov will spend time in several Christian temples, and meet the leader of the Holy Community, Father Ioanikii, as well as with the governor and vice governor of Mount Athos.
Mount Athos (called Ayio Oros or "Holy Mountain" in modern Greek) is a mountain and a peninsula that is the easternmost "leg" of the larger Chalkidiki peninsula. There are about 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries at the Holy Mountain, and only monks are allowed to live on Athos.
It is an autonomous state under Greek sovereignty.