Patmos – Chora and the south of the island – general
CHORA & THE SOUTH OF THE ISLAND
From afar the startling white, crystalline appearance of the Chora of Patmos, clustered around its fortress monastery, is visible across the water from points on many of the neighbouring islands: this visible link was important in maintaining authority over the area of its influence. From the port of Skala below, its profile dominates the horizon; often early in the morning it is capped with a passing swathe of fog. The winding road up to it from the port is plied by local buses roughly every two hours out of season, and with greater frequency in the summer. The 3km distance can also be climbed in 50 minutes along the old stone-paved kalderimi, or mule-track, which leaves from the southern end of Skala. Half way up the climb, by either route, are the buildings of the Patmiada School, immersed in a grove of cypress and fir trees. This is primarily a theological seminary, founded in 1713 by Makarios Kalogieros and still functioning today. Throughout the vicissitudes of Greek history, it has been a constant focus of academic and spiritual instruction, and represents the more evangelical side of the mission of the Monastery of St John. Below it is the convent of the Apocalypse (opening times are the same as for the monastery of St John—see below). A simple entrance, with a modern mosaic lunette above the door, leads into a small complex of churches and cells which have grown up over the last two centuries, around the reputed site of St John's sojourn on Patmos. Steps lead down to the original part of the complex, where a double church has enclosed the mouth of a shallow cave in the hillside. This is an early 17th century construction, which replaced the original 12th century building which was erected here a couple of decades after the building of the monastery of St John. The part which you enter first (straight ahead) is the chapel of St Anne—a dedication made probably in honour of Anna Dalassena who was instrumental in getting her son, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Comnenus, to grant the lands and privileges for the main Monastery. To the right is the inner portion— the cave of St John the Divine—which is believed to be the saint's refuge and the place where he received his vision of the 'Apo-calypse' ('un-veiling'), which is preserved in the Book of The Revelation. Tradition holds that the two silver-framed niches to the right of the iconostasis mark the spot where the elderly saint rested his head, and (to the right of it) put his hand to raise or support him self. The ledge of rock further to the right is supposedly where his amanuensis, Prochoros, rested the parchment on which he wrote down the words which St John dictated to him. The cave may originally have had a spring. Behind the late 16th century iconostasis, which displays the impressive icon of St John receiving the Revelation, by the Cretan artist, Thomas Vathas (1596), are the re mains of some 12th century wall-paintings which had been covered with whitewash until 1973. One fragment, animated by graceful and symbolic gestures, depicts the dictation of the vision by St John to Prochoros; its surface is covered in graffiti, many of which go so far back in time that they constitute in themselves a point of important historical interest.
ST JOHN AND CAVES
John was probably exiled to Patmos from Ephesus in c. 95 ad towards the end of the reign of Domitian, which had been marked by a period of zealous repression of Christianity. He must have been already in his 80s; he appears to have returned afterwards to Ephesus (once the proscriptions of Domitian had been repealed following the Emperor's assassination in September 96 ad), and to have died there around the year 100. It is supposed that he is the same John who was Jesus's 'beloved' disciple, but it is not certain. Patmos was an insignificant island at the time but which had historic links, through the cult of Artemis, with the city of Ephesus. This cave, with its water, may have been an obvious refuge for an exile too old to begin building a roof over his head. It should be recalled that a long tradition going back to Plato and earlier, saw the darkness of caves as the symbol of a state which had not yet been pierced by the light of higher or divine illumination; caves were lairs of ignorance, appropriate places for the having of visions, and hence they were always popular refuges for hermits and anchorites hopeful of illumination. The vision which St John received here was the greatest instance of this in Christian history. His extraordinary testimony was a gift of hope to the 'seven churches of Asia' to whom it was addressed, that their persecution (of which he himself was a victim) was not in vain, that their persecutors (the Roman authorities) would be decisively destroyed, and that all would be turned to good for the chosen faithful.
In iconographic tradition, it should be observed that there is a spiritual hierarchy implied in the images used to depict the Revelation, by which St John is generally seen higher up and outside the entrance of the cave, while his less enlightened servant, Prochoros, sits hunched within, mechanically writ. John's head is turned away towards the hand of an invisible Almighty above, to whom his right hand gestures in awe, while his other hand opens down wards to his humble servant. In this way, he figures as a conduit for divine wisdom, and part of the mystical pattern by which illumination filters down from the Heavens into the darkness of the human soul.
The paved kalderimi continues from above the convent of the Apocalypse, reaching the edge of Chora a short distance below the monastery. A steep street climbs up— doubling back on itself, through an area of fine stone houses built mostly by 19th century ship-owners who wished to be in sight of the harbour below—to the en trance of the Monastery at the summit of the hill (190m a.s.l.).
Patmos Island is part of the Dodecanese Island Group, Greece.
Patmos – Chora and the south of the island – general2014-03-012018-07-13Zeus Greek Travel Guide200px200px
click here to EXPLORE Patmos
monastery of st John the divine
the architecture of Chora
Counterclockwise through Chora from the town hall
the south of the island
Skala & the north of the island
the north of the island
Kastelli
Patmos Island, Greece.
By boat: Patmos has no airport but is well connected by sea to Piraeus, Kos and Rhodes , by Blue Star Ferries (twice weekly) and GA Ferries (five times weekly); the latter also calls at Kalymnos and Leros en route between Patmos and Rhodes .
In the summer season there are daily services by catamaran (Dodecanese Express) on the Dodecanese route between Rhodes , Kos, Kalymnos, Leros, Lipsi and Patmos;
and four times weekly the car ferry, F/B Nisos Kalymnos, runs this same route up from Kos and ex tends it onwards via Arki and Agathonisi, to Pythagoreion on Samos .
Flying Dolphin hydrofoils ply the same route daily in summer only, including twice-weekly connections to Ikaria and Fourni. Caïques run local services to the small er islands, including Maráthi, in high season.
Patmos Travel Guide
Patmos offers a remarkably wide range of hospitality from basic lodgings to overly pretentious hotels: a good halfway house, combining comfort and style is the Petra Hotel in Groíkos Bay (T. 22470 34020, 32567, www.petrahotel-patmos.com )
brand new studio-apartments, overlooking the main bay, can be taken at Irini Traditional Homes (T. 22470 32826, 32556, www.traditional.gr).
For old-fashioned practicality, the Hotel Skala (T. 22470 31343, 31747), set back in its own garden, is reliable and convenient for ferries, though the breakfast leaves a little to be desired.
In the peace and quiet of Old Chora, there are mostly only rooms available; a couple of the nicest and simplest are those of Giorgia Triandáfilou (T. 22470 31963) and Marouso Kouna (T. 22470 31026).
Chiliomodi, 100m inland of the harbour, to the left of the road to Chora, has excellent seafood and fish, prepared simply and with no frills, in plain taverna atmosphere: the wine is good, and the urchins, small fish and shrimp are the best in Skala.
Also in Skala, Grigoris, on the waterfront, looks unpromising, but is nonetheless reliable, especially for meat. Lambi, on the beach of that name, provides only what is available that day and so can be variable, but the place is quiet and the setting beautiful; Stefanos, often just referred to as 'Meloï', with a terrace overlooking Meloï beach, is more consistent and lively and has carefully prepared home cooking.
85 500 Patmos: area 34sq km
perimeter 72km
resident population 2997
Port Authorities: T. 22470 31231.
Travel and information: Apollon Travel, T. 22470 31324, 31819 ; Astoria Travel, T. 22470 31205, 31975, www.astoriatravel.com
The full text, translated and surprisingly readable, of the Rule written by Hosios Christódoulos in 1091 (edited by John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero), which contains his 'autobiographi cal' introduction, can be consulted in Dumbarton Oaks: Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents (published 2000); or at www.doaks.org/ typikaPDF/typ033.pdf