From another article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36378690 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36378690 "One of the traditions is that the Virgin Mary

From another article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36378690 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36378690 "One of the traditions is that the Virgin Mary was blown off course when she was trying to sail to Cyprus and landed on Mount Athos. And she liked it so much that she prayed to her son that she should be given it as her own and he agreed," says Speake. "It's still called 'the garden of the mother of God', dedicated to her glory, and she alone represents her sex on Mount Athos." This applies to both humans and domestic animals, except for cats. "There are a lot of cats around and it's probably a quite a good thing that there are because they are good mousers. They turn a blind eye, as it were, to the fact that there are female cats," says Speake. Like so many rules, it seems to be enforced strictly, except when inconvenient.