Idiorhythmic community
An idiorhythmic community (also idiorhythmic coexistence ) describes the organizational form of a monastery in which the monks or nuns basically live for themselves in the manner of the hermits and only gather for worship.
This form of monastic monastic life has been practiced in particular in Orthodox monasteries - here particularly on the monastic peninsula of Athos in northern Greece - since the 14th century. It differs from the contradicting principle of Koinobitism through the permission of private property, own housekeeping, and through less autocratic self-governing structures. Most of the 20 major monasteries on the Athos peninsula operated according to this organizational principle until the middle of the 20th century. There were also many smaller, communal-like forms of monastic life. Today all of the great Athos monasteries have returned to coinobitic life, while some skiing such as B. Nea Skiti are still organized according to the idiorhythmic principle.