We met our newest, excellent guide, Thanasis (Sakis) Vasilakis! His English is EXCELLENT with a hint of a South African accent, but he is very easy to understand! I would highly recommend this gentleman if you ever make it to this island! He lives in the port town of Skala, but the whole island is so small, you can drive from one side to the other in 40 minutes... This tiny island has a population of 3,000 people and 400 churches. The island is quite religious and is 98% Greek Orthodox. There are 1% catholic and 1% Muslim ( from the centuries ago when the Ottomans occupied the island.).
This Island has one of the holiest sites for Christians next to Jerusalem. It is the Cave where St. John the Theologian ( the desciple. -- NOT to be confused with John The Baptist) had a revelation from God while in a cave. It is where he wrote the last book of the New Testament, Revelation. He dictated to a scribe while living in the cave. There are no photos allowed inside the Cave, but the guide showed us a photo of the inside and what we would see. St. John the Theologian had been exiled because he was Christian, from Ephesus, to this small island of Patmos. He remained here, living in the cave for 18 months, until a new ruler came into power who was more charitable and released the Christians who had been exiled to Patmos..
Approximately 1,000 years later, Christodoulos, a Christian, built the Monastery of St John in 1088. It is still used as a monastery today but only about 20 monks are currently in residence.. The Monastery has 8 chapels inside and a part of the Monastery has been turned into an excellent small museum with some amazing antiquities inside. Including a painting of Jesus showing the agony in his face, that was done by El Greco. El Greco is from This small island of Patmos, but most of his paintings are in Spain where he eventually settled. His painting of Icons that showed emotion were not well received in this region and so he relocated to Spain where he lived out his life. The Spaniards could not pronounce his Greek name, so they simply called him El Greco, The Greek!
The museum has three different hand written and painted on parchment ( which is not paper, but leather skin) books, one of which took 2 generations to complete. The works are quite amazing! Again, no photos! Sorry! It is a bit of a climb to reach the Monastery, but Mary made it all the way to the top! Big hero medal to her grandson, Trey, who was her constant "walking stick" up the old and uneven steps! The views from the top were great. After the Monastery, we left Mary and Bill and Trey and I walked to a "typical house" in this village of Chora. The lady who owns the house is one amazing 90 year old lady! She was sitting upstairs in her quite large home which has been in her family 10 generations! The original ancestor who built the house was a wealthy businessman from Europe. His wife had been infertile and came to pray at the Chapel of St John. Shortly thereafter, she became pregnant and had her husband build this large home so she could be near the Chapel. The home is "stuffed" with treasures from all over Europe (many things from Russia) because the husband continued to travel the world. There are some amazing paintings and other antiques in the home! There is one photo of me holding an antique dentist drill. The woman does not allow photos in her home, but after I purchased some of her hand made lace coasters, she said Trey could take one photo. A relative of hers had been a dentist in Boston and came to visit and brought the antique, foot powered dental drill you see me holding!
After a bit of "quick" shopping, we proceeded to drive around this lovely island. Truly the word picturesque could have been invented for this island with its sun drenched beaches and sun bleached white houses. We drove to a lovely "colored pebble" beach on the other side of the island, the Bay of Lambi. When the pebbles are wet, they are quite beautiful. (And yes, I'm bringing just a few of them home!")
Tomorrow the adventure will start in Santorini!
Sunset last night in Rhodes.
Our guide showing us a photo of what we will see in the cave. On the far right where the orange cloth is, was the location of the scribe whom wrote down St. john's revelations..Just to the left of that is where St John slept and where he put his hand when he knelt. He was quite elderly when he had been exiled to the cave-- believed to have been about 70.
A "resting moment!"
Entrance to the Holy Cave.
These are the ladies of the church polishing the silver for an upcoming festival.
The Priest checking on the silver polishing!
At the top of the Monastery.
Narrow streets! No elevators!!! :)
Entrance to the 90 year old ladie's home...
The antique dental drill! Lol!
Riviera anchored out...
Walking on the "colorfully pebbled" beach.
Colorful pebbles.
Outside the monastery..
On the beach..
On the beach at the Bay Of Lambi on Patmos...
Checking out the amazing panorama!
Perfect weather, great history, Duffy climbed to the top and shopping all in one day!
ReplyDeleteCan you say fantastic! How interesting to meet the lady and what history must be in
her house. Glad you are enjoy.