The National Herald a b September 26, 2009 www.thenationalherald.com 2 GREEK TOURISM 2009 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 26, 2009 RELIGIOUS TOURISM Discover The Other Face of Greece God. In the early 11th century the spring, a little way beyond, were Agios Nikolaos of Philanthropenoi. first anachorites living in the caves considered to be his sacred fount It is situated on the island of Lake in Meteora wanted to find a place (hagiasma). Pamvotis in Ioannina. It was found- to pray, to communicate with God Thessalonica: The city was ed at the end of the 13th c by the and devote to him. In the 14th cen- founded by Cassander in 315 B.C. Philanthropenoi, a noble Constan- tury, Athanassios the Meteorite and named after his wife, Thessa- tinople family. The church's fres- founded the Great Meteora. Since lonike, sister of Alexander the coes dated to the 16th c. are excel- then, and for more than 600 years, Great. Paul the Apostle reached the lent samples of post-Byzantine hundreds of monks and thousands city in autumn of 49 A.D. painting. Visitors should not miss in of believers have travelled to this Splendid Early Christian and the northern outer narthex the fa- holy site in order to pray. Byzantine Temples of very impor- mous fresco depicting the great The monks faced enormous tant historical value, such as the Greek philosophers and symboliz- problems due to the 400 meter Acheiropoietos (5th century A.D.) ing the union between the ancient height of the Holy Rocks. They built and the Church of the Holy Wisdom Greek spirit and Christianity. Typical church in Oia, Santorini aerial ladders and they used nets in of God (Agia Sophia) of the 7th Monastery of Panagia Olympio- order to secure the pas between the century A.D. seem to have been tissa, Thessaly: The Monastery of monasteries. Today the pilgrims built on the ruins of the Early Chris- Panagia Olympiotissa was founded use the 200 steps so as to climb to tian Basilica. The Church of Pana- in the 13th c by the Byzantine Em- the 24 monasteries of the Meteora gia Chalkeon (1028 A.D.), Saint peror Andronicus II Paleologus. It is Rocks. They stand with respect and Demetrios Temple. patron Saint dedicated to the Assumption of the awe of this symbol of Christianity. and protector of the city, that was Virgin Mary. Those of its frescoes UNESCO had included the Holy built on the ruins of the thermae in that have been preserved to the Rocks of Meteora on the lists of the which the great martyr was impris- present day were painted in the World Heritage Sites. oned and inhumed in 303 A.D. are 13th c as well by Manuel Panseli- a few of the Churches that one can nos, the great master of the Mace- IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PAUL visit today. The ancient market, the donian Icon Painting School. THE APOSTLE Triumphal Arch and the Palace of Through the passage of time, the Paul the Apostle, also known as Galerius, a part of which has sur- Monastery has been subject to the Apostle of Nations, is one of the vived in Navarinou Square, the Ro- raids, destruction, and pillaging greatest personalities in the history tunda, which was built in 4th cen- not only during the Turkish Occu- of Christianity as well as a very im- tury A.D. and was converted into a pation but during the Nazi one as portant teacher of the faith and the Christian Church during the reign well. The monastery maintains an evolution of Theology. Saul, the ex- of Theodosius the Great, take aback extensive library which owes its ex- prosecutor of the first Christians, the visitors. istence to the generous donation of was the Apostle who travelled Athens: Paul the Apostle visited 400 volumes on theology and liter- around the known world of that Athens in 51 A.D., the city of Philos- ature by Anthimos Otympiotis, a time so as deliver the message of ophy, Intellection, Arts and celebrated scholar. Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrec- Parthenon. The ship carrying the Monastery of Hosios Loukas, tion. During his three journeys, he Apostle, dropped anchor at Central Greece: The Monastery of encountered huge difficulties: he Phaleron, which was then the main Hosios Loukas Steriotis in Beotia is was imprisoned and tortured, but port of Athens and walked to the home to two of the most significant he never abandon his mission. city where he found an altar with religious monuments in Greece, He preached in sixteen different the inscription "to the unknown dating back to Byzantine times: the regions in Greece. His Epistles to God". While he was waiting for his church of the Virgin Mary (10th c) the Corinthians, the Philippians, students, Silas and Timothy, to ar- and the monastery's katholikon the Thessalonians, the Ephesians rive from Macedonia, he walked (11th c). Both structures command and the Romans preserve his across the ancient market and the the awe and admiration of contem- preaches. Acropolis, he visited the synagogue porary visitors since they are char- Paul begins his journey in 49 and discussed with the philoso- acterized by impressive masonry A.D. to Via Egnatia, a large road phers of that time, until the mo- and magnificent yet refined archi- constructed by the Proconsul ment he was taken to the Aeropa- tectural elements and sculptures Gnaius Egnatius. Via Egnatia was gus in order to preach formally for which bear testimony to the imper- linking Dyrrhachium, on the Adri- the Unknown God. Today in Athens ial care lavished on the buildings. atic Sea, with Byzantium and was there are many Early Christian and The Monastery of Hosios Loukas the route that connected all the big Byzantine Churches, such as Kap- has been included in UNESCO's cities of Macedonia. nikarea (11th century A.D.), the World Heritage List. From Samothrace, Paul the Monastery of Kaisariani (11th cen- Mega Spilaio, Peloponnese: Apostle went to Neapolis, in the re- tury A.D.) with wall-paintings dat- Built on a rugged, forbidding cliff, Religious travelling is not some- icons, which testify the devotion to kind of life in the Monastic State of gion of Kavala, in the northern part ing back to the sixteenth century the historic Mega Spilaio of Kalavri- thing new. It has been and still re- the traditions and the abiding con- Mount Athos. The imposing histori- of Greece. A.D., a Church dedicated to Paul ta rises 120 meters above the mains the oldest and prevailing nection between the Art and the cal Monasteries, the marvellous On Samothrace, one of the most the Apostle (1887 A.D.) in the Vouraikos canyon. According to form of travelling in human Histo- Religion. cells built in caves or pendulous beautiful and important islands in heart of Athens etc. tradition, the monastery was ry. In Greece, religious tourism Some very important religious over rocks, castles, cupolas and the northeast Aegean, have sur- Corinth: In the early 50 A.D. the founded by two monks from Thes- stems from pilgrimage related ac- sites in Greece are the Autonomous campaniles, have been standing on vived many Byzantine Temples and Apostle arrived at Corinth where he saloniki, Symeon and Theodorus tivities, well rooted in past ages. Monastic State of the Holy Moun- the edge of the mountains for more findings of priceless archaeological stayed for 18 months. During his after they had discovered the From very ancient times, pilgrim- tain, |the impressive monasteries than a thousand years... value that point out the times of the third journey Paul passed from Les- miraculous icon of Panagia Dex- age has been a strong incentive of Meteora, Patmos, the island of The psalmodies reach the sky great heyday that the island en- bos, Chios, and Samos, three won- iokratousa (Our Lady Holding Holy which made people [travel towards Apocalypse of John the Apostle, the and transfer the visitors into... an- joyed. The state of Nike (Victory) of derful islands of Northern Aegean. Infant in her right arm) which had religious sites all over Greece. regions where Paul the Apostle other dimension! Samothrace, which is nowadays in The ancient monuments, the been painted by Luke the Evange- Moreover, religion, as a cultural travelled to during his journeys, the In this ark of Orthodoxy, every- the Louvre Museum in Paris, as Churches and the Monasteries of list. Mega Spilaio became the hub feature, is closely related to monastic center of Papikion moun- thing follows a different rythm of well as the columns in various parts the Byzantine era attract thousands of revolutionary activities during ttourism, thus constituting a spe- tain in Thrace (Rodopi), the unique life: the habits, the philosophy and all over the island and particularly of visitors every year. the Greek War of Independence, cial tourist activity based on dis- pilgrimages in the Churches of Vir- the thoughts, the landscape, the in Paliapolis, the ancient city of Kos and Rhodes: On Kow, the is- which culminated with the tinct cultural backgrounds and tra- gin Mary, such as Panagia (Virgin nature, the calendar (the Julian Samothrace, reflect the high level land where Medicine advanced monastery's staving off the advanc- ditions. Mary) of (Tinos, Panagia Soumela, one), the time (the Byzantine cere- of civilization during Antiquity, during Antiquity by Hippocrates, ing armies of Ibrahim Pasha in Since Antiquity until our days, Panagia Ekatontapyliani etc. monial is still followed), the termi- mostly during the Hellenistic known as the Father of Medicine, 1827. Home to the sacred icon of the Greeks used to express their re- The splendid Greek nature is in- nology, the food, the greeting, Times.