Mount Athos has had its beneficial influence on the orthodox communities for centuries and I hope that its ties with Bulgaria will continue to develop and deepen, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said in the administrative center of Mount Athos Karyes at a meeting with the Holy Community of the twenty monasteries- lera Koinotita. Protespistate Hieromonk Stefan emphasized the deep historical and spiritual links between Mount Athos and Bulgaria and the contribution of many Bulgarian clerics and martyrs for Orthodoxy who lived, studied and worked in the monasteries there. They are the spiritual candle the Bulgarian people hold in the face of the Holy Theotokos, Hieromonk Stefan said. President Radev is visiting Mount Athos and Saint George the Zograf Monastery which marks its patron saint day on November 16.