| Santorini Culture & Tradition
: |
| Santorini
Churches & Religion |
| santorini churches, greek orthodox easter, religious
calendars and festivals, greek namedays, recipes ... |
| Museums in
Santorini |
| archaeological museum, prehistoric museum, megaro
gyzi museum, naval museum, george emmanuel argyros mansion,
lignos folklore museum ... |
| Exhibitions
in Santorini |
| petros m. nomikos conference center, thera wall
paintings, art space argyros canava exhibition, 'vanishing santorini'
exhibition ... |
| Santorini
Archaeological Sites |
| akrotiri excavations, ancient thira ... |
| PANAGIA EPISKOPI FEAST DAY |
|
| Santorini Churches : Panagia
Episkopi Church |
Located in the village of Episkopi Gonia (also
known as Mesa Gonia) is the beautiful Byzantine church of
Panagia Episkopi. The church is considered the best example
of traditional ecclesiastical architecture of the island by
Mathaios Mendrinos, author of the booklet "The Church
of Episkopi in Santorini" which is distributed by the
Ecclesiastical Committee of the church ...
Panagia Episkopi was built in the late 11th Century by Emperor
Alexios A’ Kominos. The church is an important Byzantine
monument. It houses the icon of Panagia Glikofilousa, one
of the third most priceless portable icons in the world. |
| The Castastrophe of the 1915
Fire |
| Mendrinos, who is a member
of the G.P.P. Academy of Rome, writes about the church: |
| " To every Greek, either coming as a
simple visitor or as a faithful to pray, this church,
inspires both a strong national and religious feeling.
A great number of the treasures of the church such as
liturgical and ecclesiastical books, priests vestments
and holy vessels were destroyed by the 1915 fire.
Only icons had come out safe from the catastrophe.
It is said that a hand covered them by the fire and
protected them from being burned. It must have been
the invisible hand of the Virgin Mary." |
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| Photo :
Klearchos Kapoutsis |
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| The Church Survived Invasions
& Earthquakes |
The church has survived the invasions of Venetians,
Francs, Russians and Turks and still remains as an inspiration
to the islanders. Panagia Episkopi was built in 1115, but
had to withstand not only invasions and fires, but the tremendous
earthquake of 1956. Any damages incurred by all these elements
were quickly repaired by the faithful. The church is not only
known for its ecclesiastical architecture. It is also admired
for its remarkable Byzantine paintings and hagiography. A
number of important icons can be seen in the church, although
it bears to mention that 26 of the finest works were stolen
in 1982 and never to be found.
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