Simonos Petra or Simonopetra monastery on Athos Peninsula, Greece. Detail from inner courtyard.

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The Holy Monastery was founded in the 13th century by the Blessed Simon. It has been burned several times. In 1580 it was burned to the ground while the monks were saved at the last library due to the repeated fires does not contain very old manuscripts. It has however rich archives with 800 Romanian documents. Tremendous efforts were made by monk Nilus and by the Holy Fathers of the Simonopetra Monastery in recent years so as to reorganize and enrich its library. The total number of the printed material is estimated at the astronomical number of 32,000 volumes.

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Size: 3413px × 5120px
Location: Halkidiki Peninsula
Photo credit: © Vladimir Alexeev / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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