The Station

Athos: Treasures and Men

By: Robert Byron

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Paperback | 17 March 2026

At a Glance

Paperback
300 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.6 x 13.8 x 2.0

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$31.89

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Follows three young men's 1927 journey through Mount Athos, exploring monasteries, Greek Orthodoxy, and Byzantine culture.The Station follows three high-spirited young men as they visit twenty monasteries on Mount Athos in 1927. They examine treasures, photograph frescoes and sketch the courtyards and those who live in them. They swim ecstatically off the sparkling, deserted beaches, climb mountains, talk and share meals with monks and transcribe these conversations with relish. For life is very different for a celibate hermit on Mount Athos. Time has no meaning: the Son of God, His Virgin Mother, the Angels and the Saints are all living creatures of flesh and blood, and the Pope is a heretic. This slim book was little short of revolutionary in its fearless championing of Greek Orthodoxy and Byzantine civilization, reversing centuries of western prejudice. It was the first of Robert Byron's travel books, revealing the flashing wit, bravery, passion and astonishing powers of visual observation which made him such a brilliant writer. The playfully obscure title is only finally explained in his last sentence: 'This is the holy Mountain Athos, station of a faith where all the years have stopped.'

Industry Reviews

'No better portrait of the Holy Mountain exists than this: nor is it likely to be surpassed in the future. Here in short is a classic. And a classic it will remain.' John Julius Norwich

'One comes away from reading him with a joyous consciousness of having seen for the first time a whole world of unsuspected things.' Christopher Sykes

'It is a volume that will bear reading again and again.' Daily Telegraph

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