The Dutch…
loyal to the Holy Mountain
“Every visit
of me to the Holy Mountain is a new experience I want to share with as many
internet friends as possible,” explains 60-year-old Wim Voogd ‘
He is a
Dutchman, of Protestant conviction, and presents the Holy Mountain to thousands
of Internet users each year, from the U.S. and Russia until … Qatar, Hawaii and
Indonesia. Wim Voogd, currently Legal Adviser of AirBnB in Amsterdam, visited
the Athos community for the first time in 1980 as a student, and since then he
has brought it to 11 visits, the last one last summer. For the first time, he
flew with a single-engine airplane type Cessna, and shot pictures of the
panorama of the monasteries, and of the lonely eremite Joseph on the rocks of
Cape Akrathos, above a depth of three hundred meters deep, with his huge flag
of Byzantium which he waves when [airforce] airplanes fly by.
In 2006,
Voogd came up with the idea of making a blog to introduce the world to “the
richness, the magic and the enchantment” of the Holy Mountain.
“The athos
blog has no pure religious character, my goal is to show the people at the ends
of the earth, and especially women, the environment, the isolation, the special
way of life of the monks. I am fortunate that the number of users grows each
year, so that we have reached the record number of 160,000 hits, coming from
36,500 visitors, in so many different countries of the four continents each
year, “says the 60-year-old lawyer at Ethnos.
His original
pan was to start a blog to show all the people who lived far from Greece, also
women, the Garden of the Panagia, with its 20 monasteries, the tens of monks
settlements and the hermit huts, but also the daily life of the monks, the incredible
beautiful and wild footpaths, and the flora and fauna.
The tour is
mainly through photographs, accompanied with the short texts serving as
‘legend’. Most are written by Wim Voogd himself, [but also] by his brother
Herman and his friends of the blog who visit the Holy Mountain and then come
into contact with him.
He touched
the skies
In 2014, the
60-year-old Dutchman climbed the Athos summit and for quite some time he was
unable to find words for everything he saw. He felt like touching the sky,
raised his arms to shed the clouds and wished to immerse himself in the
pristine jungle.
“In no other
part of the world exists that harmony of nature, history, architecture, but
also hospitality. Where no radio and television, internet or normal connection
to the outside world exist, the monks and visitors communicate with words and
often with the eyes. Every visit of me to the Holy Mountain is a new experience
because I discover something new / special. And that’s something I want to
share with as many internet friends as possible, “he explains.
Travel
companion on most tours of Wim Voogd is his brother Herman, co-administrator of
the blog. His flight with the Cessna this year was a gift from his wife and his
two daughters, 18 and 23 years old, for his 60th birthday.
“It does not
matter what you take back when you leave the Sacred Mountain, it’s enough for
you to bring something. Your religious background is not important,” said an
eremite to him years ago. Wim Voogd adopted that and every time he shows new
images.
His flight
was a unique experience. About 2 1/2 hours he flew above Athos, photographing
most of the 20 monasteries, but also monks settlements (sketes), smaller huts
(kellia), even lonely eremites.
Caption: The
heremite monk Joseph.
A moment deeply carved in the memory
of the Dutchman and where he with his blog reached the ends of the inhabited
world, was the lonely eremite Joseph, who passionately waved with a giant
yellow flag with the double-headed eagle, at the point of Cape Akrathos
Caption: Wim Guardian in the church
of the monastery Zografou; grapes sorting in the Vatopedi monastery and at the
entrance of the Holy Communion of the Holy Mountain with one of his friends.
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