– faith in adversity, beauty and simplicity
This is my third Milos post and I’ve decided to cover the churches we’ve visited on the island. They’re ubiquitous and an integral part of daily life on the island – the simple, monotonous ringing of the bell at the church above our home seemed to punctuate our daily routine and no matter where we found ourselves on the island the regular peal would force us to pause and consider where we found ourselves. This was our first ever encounter with Greek Orthodox churches so it was fascinating to compare them to the Catholic Churches that we’re more accustomed to.
We lost count of the number of religious sites scattered around the island. They come in all shapes and sizes – from small wayside praying nooks or shrines all the way through to small chapels and larger churches. And they’re located both in the villages, on hilltops or on remote plains. Most are named after saints, hence the term “Agios” or “Aghia” which means Saint in Greek – the masculine and feminine forms respectively.
Generally, they’re very humble buildings, built on a small-scale, usually with white washed plaster walls, a simple cross at their apex and sometimes an attached bell tower. It was also surprising for us to see the Greek flag flapping from a nearby flagpole.
The interiors were a revelation in sharp contrast to the modest exteriors. Without fail, they are very lovingly and painstakingly decorated with traditional imagery on the walls, festooned with holy pictures and icons, bedecked with glass chandeliers – and absolutely beautiful in the care and attention which the parishioners clearly devote to them.
Agios Nikolaos at Fyropotamos was the first Greek church we entered, and gave us the courage and inquisitiveness to visit more as it was so beautiful:
Agios Nikolaos in Pollonia (this seems to be a common name for Greek churches!) was also a humble little building very typical of what we imagine a Greek Church to look like:
Agios Eleftherios near Komia on the eastern side of the island, located literally in the middle of nowhere, was by contrast surprisingly elaborate:
This little church, Zoodokos Pieghi, in the fishing village of Mandrakia was very sweet. Whilst we were here a local lady wandered in with a plastic bag of goodies and started to tidy up, setting everything right again. We witnessed this a few times. There seems to be a much more casual approach to churches here – with the community taking an active role in their upkeep.
Some churches required a bit more effort to reach. We tackled the climb up to Profitis Ilias (which apparently translates to “Prophet Elias”) Chapel one morning. It’s located near Trypiti on the Milos Archaeological trail. It was closed so we could only visit it from the outside:
From here we spied a small dome down by the water which turned out to be a tiny chapel also called – wouldn’t you know it – Agios Nikolaos!. To get there we had to walk down a grassy, rocky path. After hearing so much about the famed (and poisonous) Milos Viper, we were a little daunted – but hey, we got there safely in the end – what were the chances, apparently this creature is endangered!
This little chapel was a highlight of our visit to Milos – partly because of the walk to get there, partly because it’s a little remote and we had it all to ourselves, and mostly because it was a calm and beautiful spot to just sit and think and watch the waves roll in.
This little chapel faced another church with the same name (yes, another Agios Nikolaos!) on the opposite side of the harbour – perhaps their presence either side of the waterway was considered essential to a safe journey out into the open sea? We sneaked a peek through the dirty window pane to see what was inside – the most humble interior of all.
Agios Nikolaos (!) in Trypiti was hard to miss, being larger than most we had seen:
And it was pretty at night when the streets were lit up with fairy lights:
We encountered a few other churches around Plaka (the island’s capital) as well. This one is on the way up to the Kastro or castle in Plaka, and is currently undergoing renovation. Who needs Santorini?
Further up the of hill, inside the walls of the castle itself is a 13th century Church, Thalassistras, with absolutely the very best view of the whole island – and almost certainly the premier sunset viewing spot on the island.
To give it some context, here it is up on the top of the hill:
Finally, down in central Plaka this was the main church, Panagia Korphiatissa:
We attended part of a Greek Orthodox mass here about an hour or more before sunset (it’s a major sunset viewing location on the island) but sadly weren’t allowed to take any photos of the inside. It was interesting watching the mass. The priest chanted throughout, whilst the parishioners chatted at full voice, walked about, brushed their hair… It all seemed a lot more casual than we’re used to – how nice!
This is a photo of the exterior of the church a little before sunset – and a nice way to end this post..
See my next post for more about the towns of Milos see my next post here
