The Holy Mountain (officially: Holy Community of Mt. Athos) is an “Self-governed monastic state” inside Greece (perhaps the only in the world, with the exception of cosmopolitan Lhasa in Tibet), on the peninsula of Mt. Athos in Halkidiki, in Macedonia, regarded as the center of Orthodox monasticism. It is considered one of the most prominent places not only in the Balkans but also in Europe and the Eastern Church, due to its great national, historical, religious, literary and cultural value also as the center for the conservation and preservation of a rich heirloom, also designated as a ‘refuge’ and ‘museum’ for this unique treasure of Greek and Orthodox art and letters.