The peninsula in northern Greece is no stranger to non-Greeks: of the 20 monasteries, one is Russian, one is Bulgarian and one is Serbian, and the presence of monks from other nations is not unusual.

The medieval monastery clings almost impossibly to sheer cliffs high above the shimmering turquoise of the Aegean Sea.

The Monastery of Simonos Petra clings almost impossibly to a sheer cliff above the Aegean Sea in northern Greece.