The Holy Mountain is not merely a sacred locus where there are monasteries, hermitages and monks. It is a properly constituted monastic state which lives as a society with itsThe Holy Community of the Holy Mountain is run democratically and any important decisions are taken by vote, after discussion. own regulations.

The Holy Community of the Holy Mountain is run democratically and any important decisions are taken by vote, after discussion.

Many scholars believe that the Holy Mountain is the oldest democracy still in existence, not only in Europe but anywhere in the world. It has been functioning in the same way, uninterruptedly, for more than five centuries.

The highest administrative organ is the Holy Community, which is the Assembly of the representatives of the twenty ruling holy monasteries.

The coordinating agency of the Holy Community is the Holy Supervisory Committee (In Greek: Hiera Epistasia). It might be said that that the Holy Supervisory Committee is the executive branch of the Holy Community.

On the basis of the Constitutional Charter of the Holy Mountain, the Holy Supervisory Committee consists of the representatives of four monasteries and changes every year.

The head of the Committee is the First Supervisor, who works together with the other three. The First Supervisor is always from one of the five monasteries which are first in rank on the Holy Mountain: the Great Lavra, Vatopaidi, Iviron, Hilandar and Dionysiou.

The change of the Supervisory Committee is an important event, in which the political and administrative authorities of the Greek State also take part.

The change takes place at a festal celebration which begins in the historic church of the Protato in Karyes...

...and concludes in the building of the Holy Community.