The Island of Patmos

 This morning's excursion was a Photography Tour of Chora, the capital of the island of Patmos. But the views started early, as I was out on our balcony as the sun rose from behind an island.

Our tour group was not very large and we had a driver for our small bus and a guide. As well, the gentleman who is lecturing about photography on this sailing was part of the group. Our guide, Saki, is originally from Patmos but has an odd accent - there's lots of Australian mixed in there. It turns out that his family emigrated to Australia when he was quite young, and returned to Patmos when he was in his late teens. After spending 23 years in Germany with his German wife, they've moved back to the island again.

We visited a number of different spots on the island during our tour: a couple of beaches, the Petra Rock, the town of Chora and the Cave of the Apocalypse. John the Apostle, the one who wrote the Book of Revelations (or Book of the Apocalypse as it is known in Greek Orthodox Christianity), was exiled to Patmos by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and this is where he did that writing - or rather, dictating, as there is a depiction of him receiving the Word of God and dictating it to a scribe. Saki would give us tips for the best photo-taking spots as we visited each place.

Our first stop was at the small Chapel of St. Nicholas, right beside the water. It is a typical Greek Orthodox chapel where celebratory mass is held on December 6 every year, the Feast Day of St. Nicholas.

There is a tiny beach and boats docked and anchored right outside the chapel.

Our next stop was at a beach near the village of Sapsila. Tourist, or Guest, season hasn't started up yet, so there were not many people around, but when the water is nice and warm - up to 24 degrees C in August - the beaches are very busy.

The view across the bay

There are lots of cats on the island, all fed and cared
for. They even have vets come once a year to make
sure they all are healthy and get required vaccinations.

From here, we drove to another bay to visit the Petra Rock. This is a natural rock formation that archaeologists believe was used as a temple, possibly dedicated to Aphrodite, dating back to 1100 BC. Remnants of stone footings and other works, like cisterns and small manmade caves, have led to this supposition. The beach here is also very popular during tourist season.

Next, we drove to Chora (Hora) for our walking tour in the town. The whole island has 3,100 inhabitants according to the last census, and it has 3 sites that are now on UNESCO's World Heritage List. These are Old Town of Chora, the Monastery of St. John, and the Cave of the Apocalypse.  

We first visited the 3 windmills that sit on a hill just outside the old town. They were originally built to grind oats, chickpeas and lentils, all of which are grown on the island, into flour. One still does this, and the other two are being converted to generate electricity from wind power.

The views from on the hill are quite spectacular. This is looking back down to the town of Skala, where our tenders dropped us off.

Dominating the skyline of Chora is the Monastery of St. John (Iaonnis). It was built in 1088 and has been continuously inhabited by monks since that time. There are always 14 or 15 working monks. The monastery owns the windmills as well.

We continued our walk through the town and stopped for a refreshment at a local taverna.

There are lots of interesting door knockers in the
town. As Chora is as old as the monastery, this
was the only way for visitors to make their
presence known.

One small street with the monastery in the
background.

Another view of the windmills. They must
look great with the sails up.

We found the market square just before stopping for our refreshment. Saki had to keep reminding our group not to get mixed up with another group from the ship.

No, this wasn't where we had our drinks, but
it looks really nice and cozy

A last look at the monastery and...scaffolding!!

Our final stop was at the Cave of the Apocalypse. This is where St. John the Apostle apparently came to pray and meditate while he was in exile and writing. It is a popular place of pilgrimage, but until only a few years ago, in order to reach the altar, you would have to walk down 64 steps from the original entrance. Saki said it took 15 years to convince UNESCO that they needed a more accessible entrance and that it would not spoil the heritage of the site. Now the ramp is outside and people with mobility issues aren't barred from being able to see it. We were, though, because our access to the site didn't include the inside of the cave.

This is the original entrance to the cave. The mosaic I wrote about earlier depicting John receiving the Word of God is over the door.

At the end of the tour we took a little time and walked around in Skala. Lots of shops, but not lots of tourist 'kitch'. In fact a lot of the linen clothing on offer looked really nice.

I couldn't resist this one. Someone showed real intelligence in printing this on the stairs!

We set sail for Kusadasi before 6 p.m. Dinner in Waterside was delicious, and the comedian entertainer's show was hilarious. We have another long day with an early start tomorrow, so it is time for some shuteye.