Story Of The Monk Who Lived For 82 Years And Died Without Ever Seeing A Woman

It seems very surprising and many will refuse to believe. But this legend is as true as they come, like all of the mythical legends passed around through ancient times. Even if you live in the middle of nowhere, chances are you'll see a woman walk past. And yet somehow, one man made it to the age of 82 without ever seeing a woman.

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His story is so rarely talked or written about, it's even hard to find information about him on the internet, let alone in books or newspapers. Putting whatever pieces we have of the puzzle together, we can get a bit of an idea of what his life was like.

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Mihailo Tolotos was an Orthodox Greek Monk who is thought to have been born some time in 1856. But shortly after giving birth to him, his mother passed away and left Tolotos an orphan. 

Since no father or other family members came forward, the boy was abandoned on the steps of a monastery atop Mount Athos. The newborn was adopted by Orthodox Monks at a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, and he was raised there by monks living at the monastery.

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Having very limited contact with the outside world, Tolotos (among many others) never met women as they were not allowed inside monasteries or on the mountain. Tourists were allowed, but only men, who came to experience the monastic life or to settle there as monks.

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Since Mihailo 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. The news appeared in the newspaper dated the 29th of October, 1938.

Women weren't the only sight Tolotos had been deprived of throughout his life.

"Neither had he beheld an automobile, a movie or an airplane," the news article reads. 

The monks are not allowed to shave, bathe, fight, argue or ask what lies beyond the walls of the monastery. 

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A law called Άβατον (avaton) in Greek, instated in the year of 1046 by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos, prohibits the entry of women atop the mountain. This law was placed so that the men living in the many monasteries could spend their lives in absolute celibacy with peace.

The monks are of the opinion that the presence of women alters their path towards celibacy, and ultimately, spiritual enlightenment. The law still stands today.

There'll probably never be another like him again.