Aghios Ioannis Rigani (St. John of the Oregano)
Each village has one (or several) Panagiria, religious celebrations that commemorate a church (or an entire village) named after a saint. Following the church ceremony there a celebration with food, drink, and music--at no cost to the attendees.
This morning's celebration was at a tiny chapel deep in the Finikounda valley, named Aghios Ioannis Rigani (St. John Oregano). Not coincidentally, the mountainsides are full of aromatic wild oregano. Most of the congregants enter the church and light a candle, stay for a few moments, and then go outside under the shade, where the Divine Liturgy can be heard, but in a cooler setting.
At the conclusion of the service, everyone heads out, where copious quantities of food and drink await them--a pick up truck with an entire roast pig arrived and is chopped into large hunks, and there are salads, bread, wine, and beer. All at 8 a.m.
Here are a few images, starting with a photo of the beach nearest to our house (called Loutsa), a mere ten-minute walk down the hill. And a new restaurant nearby that was opened by an Austrian chef from Salzburg who is making a go of it locally. The food was exceptionally if not entirely "Greek."
Each village has one (or several) Panagiria, religious celebrations that commemorate a church (or an entire village) named after a saint. Following the church ceremony there a celebration with food, drink, and music--at no cost to the attendees.
This morning's celebration was at a tiny chapel deep in the Finikounda valley, named Aghios Ioannis Rigani (St. John Oregano). Not coincidentally, the mountainsides are full of aromatic wild oregano. Most of the congregants enter the church and light a candle, stay for a few moments, and then go outside under the shade, where the Divine Liturgy can be heard, but in a cooler setting.
At the conclusion of the service, everyone heads out, where copious quantities of food and drink await them--a pick up truck with an entire roast pig arrived and is chopped into large hunks, and there are salads, bread, wine, and beer. All at 8 a.m.
Here are a few images, starting with a photo of the beach nearest to our house (called Loutsa), a mere ten-minute walk down the hill. And a new restaurant nearby that was opened by an Austrian chef from Salzburg who is making a go of it locally. The food was exceptionally if not entirely "Greek."
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