Greece - Day 5 - Iconic Nights
September 24, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized
Ermopoulis, the city on Syros, has an incredible marble town square sitting in front of an equally impressive neoclassical town hall. I mention marble like it is something unique but of course this is the Cyclades and everything is marble, many of the streets and all the winding, narrow ancient lanes that twist around like snakes entwined. It truly is amazing.
Last night I went to the town square to sit, and wait, observe and ponder … and take a few pictures. I got impatient, I wanted something remarkable to happen … a simply wonderful juxtaposition of elements, a perfect moment, would suffice. Patience, patience I kept telling myself … slow down, be here now …. so I sat pondering what it means to be Greek, the symbols that are uniquely Greek and the icons. Then I heard the band which flowed onto the square, a group of priests and navy men in tow carrying an icon, townspeople, politicians, generals following. Everything in the square surged forward to this religious and cultural rite.
The band leads the procession …
Followed by the Greek Orthodox priests and the icon …
Who all gather for a few moments on the square, intonations echoing off the surrounding buildings in the warm night air …
Before moving once again …
A crowd following into a dark narrow lane …
And up the stairs as the procession flows to the church up the hill …
And into the courtyard …
As the people wait …
To proceed into the church, standing in line …
To kiss the icon …
And I wander back to my room, past the shop windows, to my home on the island …
To end a very rich day.
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