The planning of promoting the worldwide reputation and significance of Mount Athos for Orthodoxy and Culture and the need to improve port infrastructure in the Athos Peninsula, were discussed at the meeting of the newly elected Mayor of Aristotle Municipality, Stelios Valianos, with Abbot Elder Symeon of Dionysiou Monastery and members of the Holy Supervisory Committee of the Community (Hiera Epistasia), during the visit of Mr. Valianos to Karyes.
“The pious people of the Municipality of Aristotle feel as a blessing and a strong element of protection the coexistence with the Orchard of Our Lady […]We want and can, through a two-way relationship and cooperation, turn this neighborhood’s prerogative into a prospect for our municipality’s future by implementing ideas and projects, such as the establishment of the Athonite Studies Center, which with the advice, blessing and the help of the Holy Community can be tangible expressions of this effort”, argued Mr. Valianos.