Ceremonies
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THE TAXIARHIS FESTIVAL The Taxiarhis celebration is held 15 days after Easter on Myrrh Sunday, which happens to be the day that the consecration of the church of the same name took place in 1888. This is quite possibly the biggest religious celebration on the island, with thousands of visitors flocking to Lesvos from throughout Greece and abroad. This is the celebration of the patron and protector of Mandamados and the entire island, from a wide variety of invaders and of course the brutal Turkish yoke. Prior to the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922, owing to the blood ties that connected many islanders with their relatives on the Anatolian coast, thousands of pilgrims would attend the celebration. The residents of Aivali and Moshonisi would reach the shores of Lesvos with their boats, and from there they were picked up by the “kirasides” with their festively decorated horses and mules, who for a nominal fee known as “kiras” would drive them up to the village. The celebrations would last for an entire week, with live music in the coffee shops, the churches full of local worshippers and pilgrims, and the merchants setting up their stands all over the city streets. Things are quite different today. The town’s streets and public spaces have been organized and beautified, making it more accessible and pleasant to all those attending the celebrations. The celebrations now last 3 days, and the music in the coffee shops has been limited, but the number of pious pilgrims that attend the church’s services is as large as it was decades ago. A common practice for many of the island’s residents is to make the journey to the Taxiarhis Church on foot, in order to pray before his Holy Icon. The tradition of “Sacrificing the Bull” that survives to this day has its roots in ancient and early Christian times. In honor of the saint, a bull is sacrificed on the eve of his holiday after being blessed by the priest and the ceremony takes place under the old plane tree in the church courtyard. The pilgrims dab cotton swabs in the bull’s blood and mark a cross on their foreheads. Then the sacrificed bull’s meat is cut up and used in the preparation of the traditional “kiskets”, a dish that consists of meat and cream of wheat that’s boiled all night long in giant vats, until it becomes a stew. The next day the stew is distributed to the faithful after mass. The Taxiarhis is also celebrated on November 8th, which is an official holiday on the island. THE AGIOS STEFANOS FESTIVAL The celebration in honor of Agios Stefanos takes place on August the 2nd at the community which bears its name. People from all the surrounding communities attend the evening vespers on the day before the celebration in the quaint olive grove that surrounds the chapel. In years past, hundreds of people would make their way to Agios Stefanos by boat and steamer from all the surrounding coastal areas like Nees Kydonies, Mystegna and the shores of Asia Minor, where many of the locals’ relatives used to live. The musical celebrations lasted for an entire week, and the faithful would come and come on festively decorated mules and donkeys, as a paved road to the village had not yet been built, while music could be heard from the boats as they approached the shore, since the young men of the surrounding areas would go out for joyrides. Today, a paved road leads to the chapel, and all the aforementioned means of transportation have been replaced by the automobile, while time considerations have limited the celebration to only two days, and most events take place in the adjacent vacation communities and taverns, rather than the church grounds. THE SOTIRAS (SAVIOR) FESTIVAL This celebration is held on the 5th and 6th of August at the chapel of the same name. On the second day, around noon, the faithful head down to Yeni Limani, while the celebrations’ highlight is the horse races that are held later that same afternoon and the subsequent feast in the main square. Something similar becomes also in the coastal seasonal region “Tsonia”. “Feast of Aghioi Anargiroi” Celebrated on July 1st in Klios, in a small chapel at the north side of the village. The village celebrates for two days, starting on the eve of July 1st, and ending with traditional dances in the little cafés. “Feast of Aghios Tsirkos” (Kirikos and Ioulitis) Celebrated on July 15th, in the chapel that has the same name, found in the peninsula “Korakas” of Klios. An area that offers a splendid view but also known for the strange rock that lies next to the chapel. This rock has a narrow passage through which only a child can go. According to tradition, even the biggest person can go through the passage as long as he has not sinned. The elder locals still have stories to tell about people that got stuck in the rock… “Feast of Aghia Marina” Celebrated on July 16th and 17th, in the chapel found in the plateau of Kavaklio. “Feast of Panagia” (Virgin Mary) Celebrated on August 14th and 15th in Kapi, at the Temple dedicated to Virgin Mary. The traditional “kiskets” is prepared and then, at night, it is offered to all those who celebrate in the village square. “Feast of Aghios Giannis at Platania” It is the last feast of the summer and is celebrated on August 28th and 29th in the rural area of “Platania”, Mandamados. According to researchers, there was an old small monastery in the area but also a settlement which most presumably dates back in the same era as the settlements on the beach. Ai Giannis (St. John) church was a meeting point and a worship place for the people of the settlement. Until today, locals keep to this custom. This celebration, to commemorate the beheading of Aghios Giannis Prodromos (St. John), calls for strict fast. This is why in the open air café, “kiskets”, a plate of plain chick-peas is served. Only this plate is blessed after the Mass. According to tradition, on this day, believers are not even allowed to cut a watermelon from its top, namely from “the head”, since this would be a sign of disrespect to the memory of Aghios Giannis. The traditional orchestra is not missing from this festival either. Festivities begin with the entrance of horses on the dance floor, the moment the orchestra is performing the traditional “horse dance”. On the top of Ai Lias or the “Mountain of Gelia”, on July 19th and 20th, the whole village celebrates the Saint’s memory for many centuries now. Horse riders from the entire island, on the backs of adorned horses, wander all night through on the mountain slopes so that they would get the Saint’s blessing during the morning Mass. Once the Mass is over, “kisket” is offered. In the yard of the Holy Temple lays the chapel of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, for whom a festival is held on June 29th. |
