Oh My Gosh, Armorgos

As we pass the narrow coastline of Armogos, the winds plunge down the steep cliff walls to reach gusts of over 35 knots. But it is the waves that continue to be the most punishing. We reef the sails down and make our way around the island. There is a small protected bay on the west side of the island that will be a safe place for the night. Along the bays edge, restaurants hang their octopus out to dry like newly laundered clothing and streetlights create a necklace that twinkles around the harbor as night falls. There are three other boats also anchored out. We bob up and down together in sync with the rolling waves that dwindle in strength. By the time they reach us the waves are no more than a gentle rocking. We should sleep well tonight. It is so peaceful in this lazy bay that we decide to stay a couple of days. We rent a car the next day to visit places not reached by boat.

The “you gotta see” thing on Amorgos is the Greek Orthodox monastery that clings to the face of a sheer cliff. Its whitewashed walls look more like a waterfall than something that was met for living in. There are shallow caves that extend no more than 5 meters into the cliff and the monastery façade in front of these caves tower 8 stories high. The wonder is how they managed to get the building materials up the steep sides and how were they planning to support this monastery once it was inhabited..

You have to wonder why they chose this cliff almost 1000 feet above the sea in a sheer cliff. Well the legend goes like this. In the 9th century numerous icons were destroyed in Jerusalem. The icon known as “the Dark-eyed Mary was broken in half and thrown into the sea by an old woman that thought it was safer than being burned by the heretics. One half of the sacred icon drifted to the shores of Amorgos where a chapel was build at the end of the 11th century. Later, the chapel was replaced by this monastery.
But what of the other half of the icon? 
It drifted to the island of Patmos where another monastery was built. The two islands are therefore connected by the icon of Panagia Hozoviotissa. The two halves of the icon were reunited and… miraculously sealed together.

We climbed up the steep stairs to this impressive fortress of a monastery and crouched through the tiny 4-foot door that would have been home to Alice in Wonderland. More steep steps in a narrow passage only reinforced its fictional feel of any real place. At the top of the stairs there is a small chapel with solid silver dragons used to support candles to light the chapel. Byzantine icons line the walls. Silver chandeliers with iconic dragons hold candles that illuminate the chapel. And if you look closely to the left of the alter, you will find a wooden box with a glass lid containing a bone from Saint George. I take it that is why the chandelier was of dragons.