Mount Athos is on a hilly, heavily forested peninsula in northeast Greece that has no radio, television, or newspapers. Electricity, hot showers, and cars are rare. But most importantly, women and children have been banned from the mountain for a thousand years. About 2500 monks live in the 20 large monasteries and many smaller hermitages and communities. After coming close to dying out 30 years ago, the place is in a renaissance, with the average age of the monks being about 40, with many young monks.