LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

Aspects in the Religious Life of Romanians... 175
also resolved, by means of decree no. 159 of July 22 nd , 1948, upon the end
of the functioning of the foreign schools in the country.
Despite the very difficult conditions, the South-Danube romanians
have maintained, for the following four decades, to a great extent, their
language, their customs and the conscience of their own identity so that,
after 1990, in all countries in the area, their own publications, cultural
societies were established, and the language began being used in education,
the media etc.
We hope that the current edition of documents should remind our
contemporaries of the efforts made for almost a century, on the one hand
by the romanian state, on te other hand by the representatives of the South-
Danube romanians, for maintaining their linguistic and cultural identity.
The Romanian establishments at the Athos Mountain
the Athos Mountain is a small peninsula in the Aegean Sea, which,
together with the Sitonia and Casandra peninsulas, is linked to the Calcidic
peninsula. Crossed by a mountain range that is covered by forests, the
Athonic peninsula is a part of northern Greece, with its capital at Salonic.
the beginnings of monastic life in Mountain Athos is believed to have
occurred in the 4 th century, but its organizing as a real monastic republic
dates back to the 10 th century, after the establishment of the lavra monastery,
in year 963, by pious Atanasie the Athonite. Subsequently, in the 10 th –14 th
century, according to the model of the lavra monastery, other monasteries
were established, as well as numerous hermitages and cells. the period of
maximum development of the Athonite monasticism was between years
963 and 1453, when it enjoyed the political protection of the Byzantine
emperors. After the fall of the Constantinople, Mountain Athos entered a
period of five centuries of ottoman domination, while the Istanbul sultans
continued to ensure its protection and a privileged status.
Beginning from the 14 th century, the rulers of the romanian countries
were among the most significant protectors and donors in favor of the
Athonite monarchs and the holy places, so much so that a russian 19 th
century researcher, profir uspenski, wrote: “no orthodox people ever did
as much good to Athos as the romanian people did”. With the romanian
support, numerous churches were built from the ground or rebuilt, churches,
chapels and refectories were painted, defense walls, towers and fountains
were erected, as well as outbuildings, infirmaries, cells. In addition to the
above were important donations of cash, books, manuscripts, and canonicals.
the romanian rulers who were among the supporters of Athos include