setting eyes on a woman.
Born in 1856, Mihailo Tolotos faced a tragic start to his life when his mother passed away a mere four hours after his birth. With no father or other family members coming forward, the young boy found himself abandoned on the steps of a monastery situated atop Mount Athos. Fortunately, the monastery took him in and became his new home.
Due to the strict rules in place, Tolotos had limited interaction with the outside world and was never exposed to women, as they were prohibited from entering monasteries or setting foot on the mountain. Although male tourists were permitted, they primarily came to experience the monastic lifestyle or seek a life as monks themselves.
Mihailo Tolotos lived his entire life in seclusion, shielded from the external world, and without ever encountering a woman. Eventually, in 1938, at the age of 82, he passed away, having never laid eyes on the appearance of a woman.
Laws forbidding women and domestic animals, such as cows or sheep, from entering the Mount have existed since the 10th century and are still in force today.
The reason behind this rule was to ensure that all the monks living in all the monasteries of Mount Athos could fulfill their requirement to stay celibate for their entire life.
However he could have ventured into the wider world and could of easily come across a member of the opposite sex but the decades Tolotos never left Mount Athos.
Tolotos died in 1938 at the age of 82 after never been curious enough to leave his home.
The monk was even given a special burial by all the monks living at Mount Athos who believed that he was the only man in the world to have died without knowing what a woman looked like. Bred and educated in the walled monastery, Mihailo never even once ventured past the gates of the monastery. Throughout all this, a law passed in 1060 banning women and animals from Mount Athos was in force. A law that still stands today.
Since Mihailol never had any contact with the outer world and no woman was allowed to visit the monastery, he died in 1938, at the age of 82, without ever knowing what a woman looked like. Even today, only male tourists are allowed inside the monastery and the monks are not allowed to shave, bathe, fight, argue or ask what lies beyond the walls of the monastery.
He is thought to have been born in 1856, but shortly after giving birth to him, his mother passed away and left Tolotos an orphan.
He was adopted by Orthodox Monks at a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where he was raised by monks.
Tolotos lived by the strict rules in place in the area, one of which was that there were no women allowed.
Laws forbidding women and domestic animals, such as cows or sheep, from entering the Mount have existed since the 10th century and are still in force today.
The reason behind this rule was to ensure that all the monks living in all the monasteries of Mount Athos could fulfill their requirement to stay celibate for their entire life.
However he could have ventured into the wider world and could of easily come across a member of the opposite sex but the decades Tolotos never left Mount Athos.
Tolotos died in 1938 at the age of 82 after never been curious enough to leave his home.
The monk was even given a special burial by all the monks living at Mount Athos who believed that he was the only man in the world to have died without knowing what a woman looked like.
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