Travels with Saint Lucy

This set of pictures are taken along a stretch of road from the east side of the Akrotiri Peninsula about half way back towards Stavros. My goal is to take photographs along all the other roads on Akrotiri as well. So, I hope to have many more installments like this one.

All of these are Greek Orthodox Churches. As far as I can tell, all the churches here are Greek Orthodox except for a few Roman Catholic Churches and a Synagogue in Chania.

Most of the churches are very small. Many people stand outside during services. There are no pews. Some chairs are available but many people stand. Sometimes the service is on loud speakers so people out side can hear. I can't say much more because I have never attended a service. We are looking forward to attending one next weekend with friend who is Greek Orthodox. So I will have a better description later on.

My understanding is that chapels are built by private citizens in their yards or at their places of business. They are typically dedicated to a saint and or a loved one. On the saint day that corresponds to the saint that the chapel (or church) is dedicated to there is a feast day held at the chapel. Some of the chapels are consecrated by a priest in a ceremony that takes much preparation, similar to a wedding. This is hear say, I haven't actually attended one.

The Chaplets sometimes called "churches on a stick" are usually to commemorate a loved one. Sometimes they are located at a home or business and other times along side a road or other public spot. My understanding is that they commemorate a loved one that has passed away. I'm told the ones along side the road are located where someone passed away. Our Chaplet is dedicated to the Holy Trinity because it is modeled after a church by that name. It was made by a local artist. It is not dedicated to any one person. If you look inside you will see a picture of Mary and Jesus on a small doily, a replica of a small Minoan pot, and a 3 spot playing card (Grier's addition) for the Trinity. I plan to put a candle in it someday. Most churches, chapels and chapels have a candle or other light inside.

We have seen so many charming churches, chapels and Chaplets that I get them mixed up. I think I'll just have to include pictures of them here and there in blogs without much explanation because I have lost track!

Another delightful thing is that chapels are often placed on the top of mountains in very lonely spots and in caves. This comes from a very long tradition of locating sanctuaries on mountain tops and in caves dating back at least 5,000 years.

In the past two weeks we have taken three interesting and varied walks: a walk up the Ayia Irini Gorge, North of Souyia, a small town on the South coast of Crete, a walk from Souyia to the ancient town of Lissos, and a walk up to a small stone church at the base of the White Mountains, the Lefka Ori, Southeast of Hania.

The Ayia Irini Gorge is located to the West of the world famous Samaria Gorge and is reached by heading the same way out of Hania, but taking a right turn past Ayia to Souyia, instead of a left turn to Omalos. The road climbs, crosses the White Mountains near a PPC (the Greek electric power company) wind farm, and heads down toward the coast. We parked at the end of the gorge and walked in about a kilometer. The shortness of our hike was due to two factors: we were not sure of our own hiking abilities and this was the first hike for our dog, Thassa. Thassa was intimidated by the first big rock along the trail, backing out of her harness and heading for the van, but was soon making the climbs quicker than we could keep up with her.

Here are a few photos in the gorge:

After our walk, we headed to Souyia on the South coast. Souyia is a popular tourist town in the Summer, attracting naturalists and naturists, but this time of the year is still nearly deserted. But we were able to find a place to park and camp along the beach and a good taverna that welcomed dogs.

Our meal included artichokes and "small beans", which, you can see, were fresh peas, and grilled feta in a foil swan.

Our campsite on the beach, looking East.

And the sunset, which includes the foil swan, now miraculously transformed into a cloud.

The next day we hiked from Souyia to the site of the ancient town of Lissos. It is a 4 km hike, first through a short gorge, up to a level headland, then down into the valley where the ruins of the town are located.

The first two photos show our first look into the Lissos valley and a cave along the descent.

During the time of Greek settlement, Lissos was the location of a sanctuary of Asklepios, a god of health. Here is what Costis Davaras has to say about the sanctuary in his excellent book "Guide to Cretan Antiquities": 'In the sanctuaries of Asklepios, patients entered the temple and "incubated," after purifying themselves and offering sacrifices. The god appeared to them in their sleep or in a vision and recommended treatment or healed the disease. Numerous inscriptions contain the sincere thanksgivings of healed patients. The attribute of Asklepios was the snake. This symbol still survives today in the caduceus, emblem of the medical profession."

After exploring the sanctuary, we all relaxed, and maybe "incubated", on the small, rocky beach.

There are also two small Byzantine era churches at Lissos. Here are photos, outside and inside, of one. You can see that the builders took advantage of whatever material was handy.

Some photos of the return hike.

4 goats

1 old goat & 1 dog

The final hike was more along the lines of a Lenten pilgrimage up to the church of Saints Peter and Paul in a mountain valley, high above the small town of Kares. The walk was along a road which was surfaced most of the way, rock and gravel otherwise, and we suspect it is drivable, but the goal was to see if it was walkable.

The hike starts at the Kares platia, with its venerable platan, and rapidly ascends into the foothills of the White Mountians. Further up, the road follows the West side of a river canyon, which eventually opens to the mountain valley, the location of the church and some stone shepherd's huts. Unfortunately, the camera batteries ran out before we could take pictures of the huts. The walk up took about 3 hrs and the distance was 8, maybe 10 km. We visited the church, the door held shut by a piece of wire, as is often the case with these old churches, payed our respects to the Saints, left a remembrance, and headed back.