Number of pilgrims to Athos grows by third over year

The number of pilgrims to the Holy Mount has increased. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

In the first five and a half months of 2026, the flow of pilgrims to Athos has increased by 30% compared to the same period last year. As reported by Orthodoxia News Agency, from January 1 to June 16, 163,000 passengers crossed to the monastic state by boat and ferry. For comparison: during all of 2025, the domain of the Most Holy Theotokos was visited by 352,000 men, averaging about one thousand people per day.

The national composition of visitors to the Holy Mountain has undergone significant changes. The top five countries whose citizens are heading to Daphni and Ouranoupoli are now Romanians, Bulgarians, Serbs, Cypriots, and Greeks. Local entrepreneurs in Ouranoupoli note that up to 90% of all visitors are currently Romanian citizens.

Despite the growing number of people, the revenues of church and private shops have declined significantly, as Romanian pilgrims spend considerably less than their predecessors from East Slavic countries. While previous visitors used to purchase expensive icons, church utensils, and even chandeliers in large quantities, today's visitors more often limit themselves to buying olive oil, honey, and inexpensive souvenirs.

Due to the sharp increase in passenger traffic, the local community in Ouranoupoli strongly requests that Greek authorities immediately modernize the port infrastructure. The current narrow pier cannot cope with the load when hundreds of pilgrims simultaneously try to board vessels to travel to the Holy Mount.

As the UOJ reported, Bulgaria will allocate 1.5 million euros for the construction of a road to the Zographou Monastery on Athos.

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