Animals
The life of animals and their links with humans, from antiquity to the present day.
-
Epitaph
Good Friday. The Epitaphios has already been prepared. Christ is dead. Throughout Greece, as elsewhere in the Orthodox world, his icon, or more precisely his shroud—a large, luxuriously decorated embroidered cloth—is displayed.
-
Stray cats
Visitors to Greece have all observed the omnipresence, not always discreet it must be said, of animals that in the land of the Myrmidónes are called simply “adéspota”; literally: those who have no master. In other words, they do not live under… the authority of a despot, who is moreover a member of the human race.
-
Spring Prelude
In the Greek country, we only wait for Spring. Its beginnings are already appearing, particularly in the southern part of Hellas. Everyone is actually preparing to move into the new year, finally the real one.
-
Theophany
January 6th marks the Feast of the Theophany—a sign from God for Orthodox Christians in Greece—while serving as Christmas Eve in Serbia and Russia. It is worth remembering that more than 200 million Orthodox Christians worldwide celebrate Christmas on January 7th, as they follow the Julian calendar. Except… in Greece.
-
South Side
As this year draws to a close, everyone agrees that Christmas 2023 feels “a bit like our Orthodox Easter”—in other words, a moment of spring. This impression is further reinforced by the mild weather, especially in the south, between the Peloponnese and the Aegean islands. “The Nativity, in all its Light,” as the priest in this Peloponnesian village puts it, in his own way.