Saturday 5 August 2017

The last of the summer saints (4

The last post on saints, till next time.
Hooray, you say

A summary of summer saints and a parade of  Poros churches 

Agios - male saint                    Eklisia - church
Agia   - female                          Papas   - priest
Agioi  - plural                            

5     June   Agia Triada  (Holy Trinity)  Note the all-seeing eye painted over the doorway.  Fiesta is 7 weeks after Easter.




24  June   St John the Baptist

 Burning of the May Day Wreath.  Jumping the bonfire.   Somewhere around here mid-summer is celebrated, summer solstice. 

One of the oldest churches on the island



29 June     Peter and Paul 
30 June     Apostolos

1  July      Agioi Anargyroi  - a huge 'panigyri' (festival) at the Monastery dedicated to these two saints, Kosmas and Damianos, down the road outside the town of Ermioni.




1 July      little church at Brysoula (the spring) which is dedicated to the Holy Belt of the Virgin Mary




7 July    Agia Kyriaki on the island of Angystri.  The road outside the church is strewn with branches of sweet smelling myrtle


17  July Agia Marina.  Saint who looks after small children. Below our old house. My sis-in-law helps look after the church





20  July   Profit Elijah (Elios in Greek)  His churches are found on hilltops close to the sun.  Sounds like the Sun God Helios!  In a grove of pines on the top of a hill.  We used to take our children for picnics here and later as scouts they camped under the pines.  It is an idyllic and peaceful setting.




25 July   Agia Anna    This is a little church across the sea on Galatas with two cypress trees growing  over it like two lovers.  The church is looked after by my daughter's inlaws




26  July   Ag Paraskevi

27 July   Agios Panteleimon 


6   August       Agios Sotiros

15 August       Virgin Mary.  One of the churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary in her many forms




23  August        Another of the fiestas of the Virgin Mary.  The fiesta day of the little church on Daskalio Island at the entrance to Poros harbour 
                                                                                 


26  August       Agios Adrianos and Agia Natalia

27  August       Agios Fanourios - the finder of lost things



29  August  Agios Yianni tou Fava (St John of the Split Pea) .  Why split pea? Probably just a local tradition to eat yellow split peas (pease pudding) on this day

30  August   Agios Alexandros

These are just a few of the numerous chapels on the island, all cleaned, painted and used for a service at least once a year on the day of the fiesta  of the saint to which they are dedicated.

And that's the end of the local saints (only the local saints) for June, July and August. Of course there are lots more in September, October, November and December and..........



13 comments:

  1. Those little chapel pictures are so good. We have small chapels here too, Methodist and Baptist ones, buy many are now converted to houses.

    My favourite saint is the patron Saint of Lost Things, St Anthony. I wonder if that is the same one as yours. He never lets me down.

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    1. I only learnt about St Anthony recently. We have a small chapel near us. The Italians make Apple tarts in thanks when he finds something. Our saint is excellent. He opens your eyes to see what you have missed. Then we make a cake with raisins to say thanks and share it out

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  2. Being teased by all the lovely photos of beautiful Poros!. Time moves on at a push could sit on Vagonia beach in Begining of October , but reality will be there wrapped in a blanket at the middle of november. Yeeeeesssss. No mortgage and free but need to work another 2.4 years.

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  3. Always a saints day! And always a good reason to eat, drink and be merry!

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    1. I didn't realise there were so many till I started writing about them. This list only includes a fraction of the saints celebrated in the villages across on the mainland.
      Every day sure is a reason to eat drink and be merry!

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  4. The terracotta roof tiles and white washed buildings remind me of the Algarve. What a beautiful place to live.

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    1. I'm sure it is similar to the Algarve. I've noticed in some of your posts, food, culture....all around the med there are similarities, especially in the way the families are close and their love of social occasions.

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  5. Religion isn't a strong point in our family. I'm sure it means something to somebody though. Christmas is an excuse to get drunk and eat whatever you can and quickly. There's another chocolate on the way. The chip shops are all closed because they''re celebrating summat. Oh yeah -Christmas. We're busy throwing the wrapping paper away.

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    1. Treey, religion isn't my strong point either but I respect the way these people believe and the joy get out of these festivals. Drinking and eating are definitely a part of the celebrations but actually not a necessity. They are out to have fun, fun with friends and neighbours, fun with strangers even.
      Christmas is not such a big thing here although it has become more commercial since we joined the EU. Easter is the big celebration and chocolate eggs come way down on the list. New Years is a big celebration but mainly because it also a saints day. There is a saint for almost every day of the year.
      Church is really relaxed here. You come and go during the service. Pop out for a cigarette or a gossip, wear torn jeans or your best clothes. Specially in this small community the priest is a friend and a neighbor and he does help the poor and needy.
      Enough I think. I've worn your ears off!!!

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