Karakalou Monastery

Karakalou Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on the Mount Athos peninsula and forms part of the monastic community of Mount Athos. It is a working monastery with a history in the medieval period and a living religious community.

The monastery complex contains cells, a catholicon (main church), a library and collections of icons and manuscripts typical of Athonite houses; visitors who hold the required permits may be received under the rules of the monastic republic. The monastery participates in the liturgical life of Mount Athos and preserves ecclesiastical collections.

Karakalou was established in the medieval period and has undergone rebuilding and conservation at various times; like other Athonite foundations it accumulated manuscripts, icons and liturgical objects over centuries. It continues to function as a cenobitic monastic community within the autonomous administration of Mount Athos.

The monastery sits on the southern coast of the Athos peninsula in northern Greece and is accessed only by boat or by the internal paths of Mount Athos; it is part of the community of monasteries governed under the Mount Athos administration.

• Access rules: Mount Athos is an autonomous monastic republic with male-only access; visitors require a special pilgrimage permit (diamonitirion) and the monastery itself allows only approved male visitors.
• Monastic functions: Karakalou Monastery houses a library and icons of local importance and follows the liturgical calendar and daily routines of Athonite monastic life.