“60 Minutes” producer Michael Karzis is the perfect tour guide to take you behind the scenes on the show’s Mount Athos story. Karzis is the son of Greek immigrants and speaks Greek. Those things surely helped as he and fellow producer Harry Radliffe tried to get permission to film a “60 Minutes” story on the otherworldly Mount Athos, a self-governed peninsula in Greece that’s home to 20 monasteries and some 2,000 monks.

But getting permission was no easy task. “The parliament that exists there, the holy community, is the only parliament on the face of the Earth that has been continually in session since the 10th century,” says Karzis. “And these are the guys we were looking to get permission from to shoot on Mount Athos.”

Once Karzis and Radliffe got their invitation, many more challenges were to come, as you’ll learn in this “60 Minutes Overtime” travelogue. It’s located in Europe, but Mt. Athos is remarkably difficult to access. The peninsula is only reachable by boat and the surrounding seas can be rough. It’s believed that the Virgin Mary herself was shipwrecked there, which is just one of the many things that makes Mt. Athos so sacred to the monks and the thousands of pilgrims who visit each year.

The “60 Minutes” team was also stranded on Mt. Athos when heavy seas hit after the two-week shoot ended. Now back in New York, Karzis and Radliffe still seem moved by their time on the stunning mountain. If you’re interested in visiting Mt. Athos as a pilgrim, these “60 Minutes” videos are arguably the best visual record ever created and the best place to start your research.

The “Monks of Mount Athos” will be broadcast Sunday, April 24, 2011 on the CBS Television Network at 7:00 PM EST. Harry Radliffe and Michael Karzis are the producers of the segment.

If you’re a woman, these videos may be the only way you’ll ever see Mount Athos. No women allowed.

“60 Minutes” is the pre-eminent investigative television news show in the United States and has run on CBS since 1968. It has been among the top-rated TV programs for much of its life and has garnered numerous awards over the years. The show will also be broadcast over the Internet on the “60 Minutes” website: www.60minutes.com

Tags: 60 minutes cbs, 60 minutes overtime, monks of mount athos, mount athos, mount athos 60 minutes, mount athos photo, mount athos story