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Karyes has been the administrative center for the monastic communities of Athos since the tenth century. The Holy Community consists of twenty members, with one representative from each of the twenty [[monastery|monasteries]] on the peninsula. The Protos, or spiritual leader of the monasteries, is chosen for life from among the body of [[abbot]]s of the Athos monasteries. The Holy Community is responsible for administrative matters common to the monasteries. In civil matters the community is subordinate to the foreign office of Greece, represented at Karyes by a civil governor.
Settlement of disputes between among the monasteries is accomplished at annual meetings. The [[monk]]s assemble usually on the [[feast day]] of the [[Dormition]] of Our Most Holy Lady the [[Theotokos]] and Ever-Virgin Mary, [[August 15]], in the Protaton [[church]] in Karyes.
==Town==
