Pátmos (Part 1)

Approaching Pátmos   

It’s only about 12 miles from Lipso to Pátmos and so almost as soon as we had set off we could see the monastery and Chora high on the ridgeline. It was just a short sail but very pleasant one and by late morning we were approaching the harbour. We had intended to go straight to the town quay but at almost the last minute spotted in our pilot book that there is no piped water on the quay and the tanker sometimes delivers brackish water.

Órmos Meloyi   

That prompted a change of plan. Instead of going into the main harbour we anchored in Órmos Meloyi, a pretty bay just to the north. We ran the watermaker whilst we swam and gave BV’s bottom a quick sponge down to keep her sailing at her best.

Entering the main harbour, Skála Pátmos   

Greek Easter bun/bread

After lunch we moved into Skála Pátmos and moored on the town quay. Skála Pátmos is the main town on the island and so we took the opportunity to do some food shopping. In the bakery we bought a Greek Easter bun which is a lot like brioche but has a bright red egg in its centre. We also visited the tourist information office to find out what time the Easter celebrations were happening.

View down towards Skála Pátmos   

One of the main events happened on Thursday morning up in the Chora. We took a bus up the hill and made our way to the town square where it was all to happen. A procession was going to make its way from the nearby monastery ending up in the square. We had visited the monastery in August of last year, as well as the Cave of the Apocalypse, which is where tradition has it that St John dictated his gospels. Details of that visit can be found here. It is the link to St John which makes Pátmos  such an important place in the Greek Orthodox church and one of the most special places for their Easter celebrations.

The route of the procession had already been covered in sprigs of lavender and in the square there was a decorated platform ready for the priests. We had been told that the ceremony began at 1000 but when we arrived at 0945, there were very few people in sight, other than those busy setting up the stage and seating. However, an hour later the square was crammed with people waiting for the event to begin. Twelve priests, who had been specially chosen to represent the apostles, were escorted two at a time onto the platform. Incense was burned and wafted and important icons and the Bible were also paraded.

With the square full of people, it was quite a job to get the priests through the crowd, and even more so for the incense-wafting ‘bodyguards’ to get back to escort the next ones through.

The Abbot washing the ‘Apostles’’ feet and back in his robes     

The ceremony took quite some time and was, of course, conducted in Greek.  We think that it was essentially a retelling of the Last Supper, with different priests assigned the roles of each of the disciples. The main event was when the Abbot from the monastery took off most of his fine robes and proceeded to wash the feet of the 12 chosen priests, re-enacting Jesus washing the apostles’ feet during the Last Supper.

When the ceremony was over, the icons and the priests paraded back to the monastery and everyone started to disperse. As we were up in the Chora we thought that we would take a look around and visit the monastery again.

Pátmos, Greece