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The region of Mount Athos is distinguished by its administrative system and the status of its autonomous monastic state. The community consists of twenty holy monasteries governed by a central administration, while each monastery maintains its own internal organizational system as well. Therefore, one can speak of central and local governing bodies. Some authors also refer to these as first and second-level self-governing bodies.
At the central level, the self-governance of Athos is managed by the Holy Community, the Holy Superintendence, and the Extraordinary Twofold Synaxis. At the local level, the monasteries are governed in two ways: cenobitic monasteries — governed by the abbot, the Council of Elders, and the Epitropi; and idiorrhythmic monasteries (when they existed) — governed by the Epitropi and the Council of Elders. The administration of the dependencies, such as sketes organized as cenobitic or idiorrhythmic communities, as well as the metochia of the Athonite monasteries, is also organized accordingly.
