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

Aspects in the Religious Life of Romanians... 177
from 12 to 25 ottoman pounds, they had no food, so that “quite often we
must go to the russian Fathers to ask for a few crumbled bread pieces…
for we dare not go to the Greek, as they confront us by saying: go to your
Government, for it is it that took our estates” 8 .
In the second half of the 19 th century and at the beginning of the 20 th
century, romanians of transylvania, Basarabia under Czarist domination,
romania or from within the Balkan peninsula, joined the group of the
Athonite monks. According to a report of the plenipotentiary minister
at Constantinople, Ghika Brigadier, of March 10 th , 1901, at the Athos
Mountain there existed two romanian hermitages, prodrom and lacu and
20 romanian cells where approximately 600 romanian monarchs lived.
the romanian hermitage prodrom was subordinated to the lavra Greek
monastery, it had a big church and three chapels, as well as one succursal
monastery in the thasos Island. 150 monks lived here, and the romanian
state subsidized the same with rol 14,000 per annum. the second
romanian hermitage, lacu, had a big church and 14 chapels, as well as 12
cells, it was subordinated to the St. paul monastery, it had 80 monks and it
received a subsidy of rol 1,200 per annum 9 .
In 1900 one established the Community of romanian brothers at the
Athos Mountain, under the leadership of hieromonk teodosie Soroceanu.
It was formed of the 12 monks of the St. John the Baptist cell, the 32
monks of the St. John the theologian (provata) cell and the 8 monks of
the Adormirea Maicii Domnului cell. the community received an annual
subsidy of rol 5,000 10 from the romanian state.
Due to its important spiritual role in the orthodox world, the situation
of the Athos Mountain was the object of international plans and regulations.
Given the imminence of the ottoman empire’s falling apart and the panhellenic
action taken by Greece, which attempted to integrate the entire
Calcidic peninsula, one raised the issue of the Athos Mountain’s status,
which, for several decades, had been regulated by the seventh typilkon,
confirmed by the ottoman authorities in 1810. In 1878, article 62 of the
Berlin treaty stipulated as follows: “As the high Gate has expressed
its will to maintain the principle of religious freedom… the ecclesiasts,
pilgrims and monks of all nationalities, who travel across the european and
Asian turkey, shall enjoy the same rights, advantages and privileges…
the Athos Mountain monks, regardless of their country of origin, shall
keep their previous possessions and advantages and shall enjoy full equality
8 AMAe, fond Problema 15, vol. 21, f. 31.
9 Ibidem, vol. 28, f. 5-10.
10 Ibidem, f. 10.