| Greek Roadside Shrines | |
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Mykonos is famous for its small family chapels which are usually opened on the feast day of the attendant saint, or to commemorate another important day in the family history. A charming chapel stands at the end of the harbor, waiting for last-minute prayers of sailors before sailing on the often-rough waters of the central Aegean. Others are in the heart of the busy, secular streets of the Venezia area.
One I discovered opened at night, when the glowing candles and dark interior offered a moment's respite from the bright and wild Mykonian nightlife. In the shadows cast by the pure beeswax candles I knew were brought from Mount Athos many miles across the sea, the centuries slipped away. Narrow carved wooden seats were set facing each other shoulder to shoulder, attached to the wall. The big eyes of traditional icons caught the candlelight. I nodded to the elderly Greek woman tending the shrine. She nodded back but did not break the silence which seemed part of the deep shadows. I lit a candle from the small forest of already-burning ones standing in an ornate platter of sand, said a prayer of thanks for safe travel, and left a few coins in the box.
During your trip to Greece you'll see ancient temples, impressive Greek Orthodox churches with arching domes, and brilliant gilded icons. You'll see evidence everywhere of thousands of years of Greek belief. But to feel it, step inside one of the little chapels. Or stand a moment on a wild roadside by a little shrine where someone's hopes, pains, or life is perpetually commemorated, and our own spirits are restored by a moment of quiet in the heart of Greece.
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