A supermarket is preparing to open on Mount Athos

Collage – editorial staff of “A.N.”

On Athos preparing for opening supermarket with 3000 names of goods and only male employees.

Among the monastery cells and archontarica, opposite the holy church of Protatos in Karyes, where the historical icon of the Virgin Mary Aksion Esti is kept, an old cell with an area of ​​about 400 square meters will be converted into a supermarket to serve permanent residents and guests Holy Mountainof which there are more than 150,000 people per year.

This is the first time that a supermarket chain has entered the autonomous monastic republic, which has caused different reactions: some have welcomed the news as a convenient solution to existing increased needs, while others have wondered what a multinational company is doing in an austere place…

According to the newspaper Απογευματινή, this is the fifth brand store that the Greek division of the Belgian-Dutch group Ahold Delhaize is opening this year and which will become the first supermarket chain to open a branch in the monastic republic.

Construction work on the building which will house the supermarket is said to be almost complete at this point, with the aim being to start work early next year or ideally around Christmas.

The trading establishment will be located in the former cell of St. Nicholas, which belongs to the Holy Monastery of the Megistin Lavra and is located in the so-called “Samaradiko”. This building has been converted into a modern multi-functional center for some time now, housing guest dormitories, a restaurant and café, a physiotherapy centre, a church supply store and an optical shop. It is reported that the chain has rented space on the ground floor, which will be converted into a supermarket, and the second floor, where housing will be created for employees.

But what goods can appear on Athos? People familiar with the Athonite state explain that the answer will be “everything” – just as in the case of the two grocery stores already operating there. Contrary to what one might imagine, the sale of specific products such as meat or alcoholic beverages is not prohibited in these shops, since not only the monks, but also all those who from time to time visit or work in the monastic state will receive the necessary supplies there goods. However, the company that opens the supermarket, aware of the special conditions prevailing in the community, intends to create a special store that, among other products, will sell codes available for wholesale and products produced in Aghion Oros with a special label.

According to the 2021 census, the permanent population of Mount Athos is 1,746, and the number of workers employed there, mainly in the construction sector, is estimated to be around 1,000. In Karyes, which is the administrative center of Mount Athos, there is a police station, a medical clinic, a post office, a bank, bakeries, a courier company, a tailor’s workshop, a bookstore, various workshops, grocery stores and other shops selling everything necessary – from church utensils to building materials. Also in Karyes there is a theological secondary school and a religious lyceum at the Athoniada school.

And if some people are surprised and shocked by the functioning of a large commercial enterprise on Mount Athos, then reality itself resolves any issues: in a monastic state, even monasteries develop “entrepreneurial activity”, some of which run ultra-modern online stores “on the mainland” through which they send orders of all kinds, from incense, wines and local products to hats with the “Agion Oros” logo, aprons, cups, medallions, ointments, notepads and souvenir magnets, not only to Greece, but also abroad, with considerable turnover.. .

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