Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Studio: CBS
• DVD Release Date: May 11, 2011
• Run Time: 25 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004XML3KC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,334 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #99 in Movies & TV > DVD > TV News Programming

Editorial Reviews

Airdate: 4/24/11 Bob Simon gets rare access to Mount Athos, a remote peninsula in northern Greece that is the spiritual capital of Orthodox Christianity. For more than a thousand year, monks on Mount Athos have lived lives wholly devoted to prayer, work, contemplation, and isolation, with little time left either to eat or sleep. Despite a millennium's worth of world changes since the establishment of the Mount Athos monasteries, monks say little has altered in their secluded, sacred world since their Byzantine brethren lived and prayed here.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most inaccessable bastion of the Orthodox Church April 26, 2011

By jswell

I was extremely fortunate to visit Mt. Athos in 1974. Without a doubt, the most surreal experience of my life. I am not Greek Orthodox, and obtained a visa from the Greek Consulate in Chicago that I then had to take to the Greek Government in Athens. It involved flying to Thessaloniki, Greece, taking a 3 hour school bus ride, surrendering my passport, boarding a ferry for an hour trip down the Peninsula. Then a harrowing school bus ride up to the main exit. I applied as a student of Byzantine Architecture, and, as a foreigner, was separated from the three young Greek men I met who spoke English. I slept in a cell for non-Greeks. There are no female anythings on the site; so no milk, eggs; moldy cheese and bread and tomatoes. You must walk on dirt paths from one monetary to another. My Greek did me no good; the monks spoke Church Greek. Luckily, my young friends translated for me!

Since I was there, they have added some electricity. Photography was allowed, but not of the monks, and the Churches were illuminated only by oil and candles. I felt as if I was literally on the moon, cut off from civilization as I was. I was well treated and it probably ranks as the most exotic place on the planet.

BUY this DVD! You will never see anything like it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Praising Mt. Athos June 21, 2011

By Wolf Lady

Amazon Verified Purchase

My father called me long distance, telling me about what would be on the 60 minutes TV show. As I was watching the show, I thought--"I should be recording this". And of course, I didn't!!! I was so focused and frozen watching and listening to this great show. Next best thing was to order it as soon as I could. I felt the price was very fair & it arrived within a few days to my door!. This is a must-have in video/DVD library. I only wish it would have come with a plane ticket & passport!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Filming and Interesting Interviews June 1, 2011

By Diego Banducci

Amazon Verified Purchase

Having found Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer to be intellectually shallow, I moved on to this program which I think is substantially better. After reading a lot about the Byzantine Empire, which initially supported the monasteries on Mount Athos, I had bought one of the several books on the suject, which I found to be unsatisfactory because of its black and white photographs. What this program makes clear is what a beautiful place Mount Athos is, both in terms of its natural surrounding and the stunning architecture.

While the interviews with the monks are short (the entire program only lasts 25 minutes), I found them to be quite interesting, unlike those in Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer.

All in all, an interesting and enjoyable program.