THE FESTIVAL OF ST.JOHN THE HERMIT IN AZOGIRES

The weather was great this year on St. John the Hermit's festival.

About 60 people showed up and most of them remained after for the traditional feast that has been taking place for the past 300 years; a feast that has been handed down from generation to generation of the
Koukoutsakis family.

Since St. John is our family protector, this year as every year, Tony cooked some of the most delicious steaks I've ever had in my life and furthermore, the wine was great.

You should come next year on the 8th of October!

And don't forget that the Hermit is one of the most powerful Saints in Crete so, if you need something in your life just call out to him and he will help you.

More Hydraulics

Hydraulic Engineering

Take a walk up the hill from the Alfa Kafenion and if you turn off to the right just before the entrance of the Alfa Hotel, you’ll be more of less able to follow the route of the once extensive water works that drove the mills that supplied the flour for the whole of the Azogires area.

The theory behind the network was that water, initially collected from the river, was stored in a series of concrete cisterns above each factory. When needed, it was then extracted from the cisterns by gravity feed through channels and used to drive simple water turbines within the factory. Having been used, the water was then channelled into the next cistern in line to be stored for use further down the hill.

The remains of the network can be seen to start with a cistern at the top of the valley, just below the road but now hidden and partially destroyed, and lead on through a series of concrete water channels, ending up in a final cistern located just above the now abandoned olive oil factory by the Ever Green Plane tree.

The scheme was initially developed by the famous local priest Pater Papagregorakis towards the end of the 19th century and though now in ruins, in its day the complex of channels and cisterns provided the motive power for three flourmills, an olive oil factory and a tannery. To provide some measure of comfort for the Azogirans while waiting for the flour to be ground, and presumably some income when the mills weren’t working, a kafenion was located on the top of the building containing the third, lowest, flourmill and olive oil factory.

The first flourmill, the one at the top of the slope, along with one of the two lower flourmills, the old olive oil factory and kafenion, went out of use in the 1930’s although the tannery is believed to have continued in use for some time beyond this. The second flourmill was still in use, and still driven via the original water scheme, until the 1970’s.

Of the three mills only the second one now remains. The first flourmill has long fallen into ruins. The lower buildings, flourmill, olive oil factory and kafenion, were eventually demolished in the 1970’s to make way for a new olive oil factory that can still to be seen by the Ever Green Plane tree. Although driven by electricity, this new mill didn’t last as long as its water driven forerunners, closing in 1992. Planted next to the remains of the tannery, and having outlasted it, is fine specimen of Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis (Q. macrolepis), Valonia Oak or Velanidia; an oak that was deliberately planted here in order to harvest its large, long scaled acorn cups, from which a black dye was extracted for use in the tanning process

The best spot for something approaching an overall view of this impressive feat of engineering is standing at the Venetian style bridge. Here you can see both the channels running down towards you, the second and third cisterns behind you and just a bit downhill on the path towards the Ever Green Plane tree, the remains of the second flourmill.

The Priest's Vinyard

If you take the road over the mountain from Azogires to Asphendiles, about 3 Km after the turn outside Azogires, and shortly after you’ve gone around to the Asphendiles side of the mountain, down in the bottom of the valley on your right hand side you will see what appears to be the remains of a large building.

In fact these are the remains of a vineyard constructed by Pater Papagregorakis, the miracle working priest of Azogires.

The long wall facing you was the mountain perimeter wall and the thicker wall at right angles to it on the right hand side of the ruins marks the end of the priest’s land in the valley. The square ruins on the left hand side are the remains of the watch keeper’s building – apparently it was not unknown for people to try and steal the grapes!

The vineyard was apparently in use up to the 1950s but now is just used for goats and sheep.

Tales of the Pater Papagregorakis #4

The Grave of Pater Gavriel Papagregorakis at the Holy Father's Monastery

The Funeral of Pater Gavriel

At the funeral of Pater Gavriel, one of the nuns who had been spiritually very close to him was praying in the church said, “If we had a good time together, give us a sign that you are here.”

At this, the thurible (the incense burner - currently in the museum) that was hung on the wall came off the wall and was seen by all swinging about in the middle of the church and panic broke out.

The nun again said, “If that was you and if we had a good time together, give us another sign.”

It was raining at the time and very windy and then a large rock fell off the cliff side onto the roof of the church but instead of breaking the roof and crushing everybody inside it rolled harmlessly off and down the hillside.

The nun then said, “If it was from you Pater Gavriel and if we had a good time together, on your 40 day anniversary I want to die and join you.”

40 days later, she died.

Tales of Papa Papagregorakis #4

Protecting the village

Papa Gavriel was the Archimandrites of the monastery, the head monk and he was also a healer. Once in 1928 he was breaking stones and he got some cuts on his legs from the stone chips so he put some soil on the cuts and they stopped bleeding and healed up, that’s how pure the soil here was.

He was a good doctor and would heal the people of the village, healing broken bones lifting curses. He rescued people stopping feuds over land but he would also start feuds himself – he was the wrong priest to argue with!

When he was dying he left a curse on : ' he who stole from his land or cheated people over his land or saw someone stealing his land or cheating someone else over his land,' the curse being that that person would leave no male heirs.

'They would have as many male heirs as there are hairs on the palms on my hand,' he said.

4 or 5 families are said to have vanished from the village over the years, leaving only daughters – some were chopping down his trees, some putting animals on his land, some trying to steal his land.

It is said that one man sold him some land and in the 1940’s decided to take the land back. He became very ill and even the Doctors couldn’t help him. A wise old man in the village remembered Pater Gavriel’s words and told him “ Nephew, leave the Church lands alone.”

So the man wrote a letter giving up his claim to the land and two days later all his symptoms were gone and he was like a 20 year old again.

It is said that in the 1950s the villagers of Anidri tried to build a road from Anidri to Asfendiles by passing the village of Azogires, and going across the priest’s land. All the men of Azogires were ready to stop them with their guns but a temporary halt was called when lawyers got involved. Eventually, work was due to start again. This time the villagers from Asfendiles sided with those from Anidri in favour of the road and as a result only 4 men from Azogires turned up to stop them. They were faced with about 50 Anidrians and the Police stepped in to prevent a fight. The next day, as soon as the Anidri bulldozer got onto the priest’s land, it cut out, rolled down the hill and that was the end of the road.

About 30 years ago the church land up in the hills caught fire. The fire started to expand and to move towards Anidri and Asfendiles. The Azogires people saw the fire up on the hills through their binoculars and saw 100 or so people fighting it, The general view was that the Azogires men did not want the Asfendiles men to say that they had put out the Azogires fire so they went off from Azogires to fight it. When they got to the scene, the fire was out . There was nobody there but the were 99 brushes made from Oleander and Olive branches on the ground.

When the road from Asfendiles was built, they used dynamite to blow up the rocks. On one occasion a rock twice the size of a car was blown up and started rolling down the hillside.

A man started laughing and saying, ”There goes the priest’s olive trees!”

20 metres from the priest’s olive trees the rock started to go to the right and then to zig-zag through the priest’s olive trees, it turned right again and then into laughing man’s trees, knocking down half of them. The rock ended up below the Turkish Settlement in the valley and it’s still there to this day.

Tales of Papa Papagregorakis #3

The Evergreen Plane Tree

(The tree is located on the pathway down to the Monastery, just before the 'modern,' but now deserted, olive oil factory. See the map in the Alpha Kafenion.)

Papa Gavriel and the Plane Tree

Some people believed that the Evergreen Plane Tree had some sort of power for Papa Gavriel. The tree originally had 99 crosses formed by its branches, one for each of the Holy Fathers who followed St. John to Azogires, but nowadays there are a lot less.

Once Papa Gavriel was trying to build a bridge down stream from the current one to save the people having to walk up the valley to cross the river. But there was another plane tree in the way. He was cutting off a branch from this tree when another branch fell on his back, injuring him. They took him to the monastery.

The next day the villagers came to see him and offered to use his sharp axe to cut down the offending plane tree.

“What tree?” was Papa Gavriel’s reply.

They went down to the river and there was the offending plane tree: dry, rotting and falling apart.

When they made the road to the monastery the man with the bulldozer tried to remove the Evergreen Plane Tree. The villagers told him not to but he carried on, ignored them and cut into the roots of the tree. As he did, the bulldozer cut out. He started it again but when he cut into the roots it shut down again. The third time he hit the tree, the bulldozer cut out, rolled 5 metres backwards and rolled down the hill. It took another bulldozer to pull it out

In the 1990s there was a merchant who wanted to show that there was nothing special about the Evergreen Plane Tree. He and a friend took a branch of the tree and took it off in their car. Just outside the village the car broke down; it appeared to have run out of petrol.

They came back to the village for help thinking that someone had siphoned the petrol out of their car. When the helpers arrived with petrol can they found the petrol gauge reading full and petrol in the tank. They checked the electrics and the battery; all appeared to be all right but the car still would not start. Then one of the men said,

”Maybe there’s something about the tree after all”

and threw the branch out of the car. They turned the ignition key and the car started immediately.

Tales of Papa Papagregorakis #2

Papa Gavriel's vestments in the Azogires Museum

(For access to the Museum, enquire at the Alpha Kafenion)

Papa Gavriel and the Chandelier

Papa Gavriel went to a mosque or somewhere and got a crystal chandelier for the church but it was in a thousand pieces and had to be put together. He went to the kafenion and told a couple of men to come and help him put it together. They were playing cards and so they said, “Ok Priest, go ahead and we will come.”

Half an hour later the shouted to them “Are you coming or not?” and they said, “Yes.”

20 minutes later he walked into the kafenion with a stick and so they dropped their cards and all three went up to the church.

Papa Gavriel had put the chandelier pieces into lines and they were numbered so that they can be put together and put up.

Suddenly the priest started shouting at the men “Get out, get out now!”

“But we’ve come to fix the chandelier “ they said but he pushed them out of the church and closed the door.

Suddenly they start to hear noises from inside. Two minutes later Pater Gavriel opens the church door and there’s the chandelier hanging complete from the roof. Such was the inner power of Papa Gavriel –or George as his real name was.


Papa Gavriel and the Metropolitan

Once there used to be nuns in the monastery.

One time the Metropolitan, the head priest, from Selino/Kissamos came to see Papa Gavriel. The visit don’t go well and the Metropolitan was upset and angry because there was no reception committee for him, no bells were rung in his honour and nobody clapped when he came to the monastery. While they were sitting down to dinner with the other monks and nuns, the Metropolitan accused Papa Gavriel of having sex with the nuns – others who were jealous of Papa Gavriel had said this.

Papa Gavriel picked up his cassock, his long robe, and pointed to the injury he had received from the Turks saying ‘How can I have sex with anybody?”

Then he picked up the Metropolitan, put him on the monastery table and started to beat him –some say he also threatened to shoot him with his revolver!

That’s the reason Papa Gavriel left his land and property to the village of Azogires and not to the church, because he realized that these church people were not the proper people to have his land. Everything in the village used to be maintained with his money; the INKA Supermarket by Skala in Paleochora belongs to Azogires and his money paid for the road to be made from Paleochora to Azogires.

Papa Gavriel and the Wall

One day a man was walking to Anidri for a wedding dressed in his best clothes and he came across Papa Gavriel trying to move a stone the size of a table with a wooden beam; he wanted to build a wall. He had been working all his life so this was not unusual.

“Come and help me,” said the priest.

“I can’t” said the man, “I’ve got my best clothes on.”

“OK” said Papa Gavriel.

The man went 20 or 30 metres then feeling ashamed of himself, took his jacket off and went back to help the priest.

The two of them tried to move the stone but it was too big for them and all they could do was tilt it a little. Eventually Papa Gavriel said to the man “OK, go on to your wedding,” which the man did.

About 6 am the following day the man was walking back from Anidri and he looked for the stone but it wasn’t there, it was off the path and built into a wall which was packed with dirt - the work of 10 men for a couple of days.

He got to the bridge and saw the priest sitting there eating some cheese.

“How did you manage that?” he asked.

Papa Gavriel replied, “My friends helped me.”

“Who are your friends?” said the man................and the priest just smiled.

Nobody knows how it happened.