This article explores the discrepancy between ‘universal values’ and ‘local values’ in the
case of world heritage sites of sacred/religious nature. It focuses on the example of the world
heritage site of Mount Athos, a self-administered peninsula in Northern Greece inhabited by
an Orthodox monastic peninsula and accessible only to male visitors/pilgrims. Special
emphasis will be placed on the Avaton rule (prohibition of access to women) which has
constituted an issue of debate since the inclusion of Greece in the European Union and, to
some extent, since the inscription of Mt Athos to the World Heritage List. The issue of
Avaton generates the question: “should a religious site of local, national and international
significance that excludes half of the world population be designated as a heritage place of
universal value?
