Today is Greek Orthodox Good Friday and we asked the
campsite manager about celebrations in Ioannina. He told us that there were
processions that would meet in the centre of Ioannina and gave us direction.
That wasn’t going to happen until about 21:30, so we plenty of time to do other
things. I went to a local well-stocked shop and bought some charcoal and
firelighters and set about barbecuing some chicken.
After lunch we went into the city and a 20 minute walk took us to the site of
the Ioannina castle. The remaining walls are impressive, as was the gate
through which we entered. The castle area now has lots of housing and the odd ‘boutique’
hotel but there are remnants of the castle, especially in the north-east corner
where the Byzantine and Silversmith Museums are located. Also within those
grounds are a mosque and a church. As we walked into the grounds we heard the
chanting of an Orthodox service that was being broadcast on speakers placed
outside the church. This is very common in Greece where, on special occasions
such as this, the congregation is too large to fit in the church. We made our
way to the church but found that the chanting was a recording – there was no
service going on but the church was open and we were able to go in. In the
church was a flower-decorated bier with an icon of Christ. An elderly lady was
adding more petals around the icon and making sure that they were properly
arranged. A steady stream of people approached the bier, crossed themselves and
kissed the icon. Meanwhile the bells of the church rang mournfully – just an
occasional high or low note, sounded by an automated electric-powered hammer.
Churches all over the city were ringing their bells in this way and the sound
continued for the whole day.
We walked on, wandering the streets until we came to the Agios Athanasios
church that would be our destination at midnight on Saturday. The church has
some very good frescoes and beautiful wood carving. Agios Athanasios is one of
the most important churches in the city and therefore it had an even more
beautiful bier and many more people streaming in to pay homage.
We moved on to the square where the procession was going to terminate later
this evening and found a café to have excellent coffee and ice cream. We needed
to kill some time so we found another church, Saint George, further up the hill
where the congregation were crowded outside and even on the other side of the
road. Many people were holding brown candles to demonstrate mourning for Christ’s
death.
We returned to the square outside the town hall to take up a good viewing position.
The procession is called the ‘Epitaphios’ and biers from the major churches in
the area are hoisted onto peoples’ shoulders and carried to the square. By
21:30 the crowds covered the roads, the candles twinkled and shortly afterwards
the first of five biers arrived, processing through the crowds. They halted in
front of the town hall where a brass band had been entertaining us with
mournful music for the previous hour. It was quite a moving experience and the
dense crowd around us were very respectful. The clergy arrived and when the
sermon started we decided that it was time to walk back to the campsite.
Photos: There are lots of friendly geese on the campsite and this family came
to visit us; One of the gates to Ioannina Castle; The bier in the castle church;
The biers have all arrived at the town hall.
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