Mt Athos is the easternmost peninsula of Chalkidiki in northern Greece. It is reserved exclusively for Orthodox Christian monasticism, and there are twenty Orthodox Christian monasteries here in addition to large sketes and smaller hermitages. Jonathan has visited this place on several occasions and kept diaries of his experiences.

The diary of his fifth visit (2019) can be read on the website Orthodox Christianity here.

The final part of the diary of his fourth visit (2018) was included in the book celebrating thirty years of the Friends of Mount Athos, Encounters on the Holy Mountain: Stories from Mount Athos, edited by Peter Howorth and Christopher Thomas and published by Brepols Publishers in 2020.

The diary of his first visit (2013) can be read in the issue ‘English Writers 1’ of the magazine International Literary Quarterly here.