Why Women are Legally Banned From This Peninsula

Mount Athos is not only a mountain, but also the peninsula it rests on, geographically connected to Greece, but socially isolated from it. It is home to many monasteries, and women aren't welcome. Athos was given special administrative status in order to get around Greek and European anti-discrimination laws, as those customs are sort of grandfathered in. You may wonder, as I did, why the area wasn't just given to the Orthodox Church to be kept as private property, but I imagine it's a rather large chunk of land to cede in that manner. This video is only four minutes long; the rest is an ad. -via Digg