Tales of Papa Gavriel Papagregorakis #1

Gavriel Papagregorakis
(Photograph in Azogires Monastery Museum. For access to the Museum, enquire at the Alpha Kafenion.)


The monastery at Azogires was a monastery before the Holy Fathers came; it’s shown in old icons but no one knows how old it is.

There is another cave there somewhere with the treasures of the monastery; that’s where the Holy Fathers first came. In the cave is said to be the soul of Gavriel Papagregorakis, the watchman of the monastery, the priest who is said to be still guarding the monastery and Azogires.



He has many stories told about him; he was a very powerful man but no one knows where his power came from.

He was a short stocky man with a big bushy beard and he lived from 1838 to 1929.

He was a priest who had been involved in one of the wars against the Turks and was shot in the wrong place and therefore he couldn’t have children.

He eventually became the head of the monastery, which at that time had both monks and nuns.

He had nothing; he was a workingman all his life, working day and night, living on olives and bread. In the end he bought one third of Azogires and when he died he left it all to what is called the Church Committee formed of 5 people.

The Goat

He had a flourmill here; a second mill below (the monastery?); another by the bridge; an olive oil factory and a kafenion. They all worked from the same small water source; he was the Leonardo De Vinci of Azogires.

He was also a merchant and he had another kafenion by Agios Georgos. He was once sitting in this kafenion looking at some pine trees he had planted that stretched from there up to the monastery when a goat came along and started eating his pine trees. He started shouting at the goat and he said “Damn you goat!’ and the goat started rolling down the hill.

The villagers went to eat the goat but Papa Gavriel said, “Don’t bother, it’s cursed.”

They sliced open the goat and smoke started coming out of it.

The Cave of John the Hermit

The cave of St John the Hermit

It’s said that when St John the Hermit arrived in Azogires, around 1300CE, he stayed in a cave up by the Alpha Hotel known as St John’s Cave or the Holy Cave. The cave is believed to have been used for human habitation for several thousand years.

It is still used as a place of worship and during the Second World War, it was used as a hiding place for weapons for the partisans.

The Holy Father's Burial

Shrine of the Holy Father's in the Holy Father's Cave

The Holy Father's burial

The Holy fathers went to the village of Sambronas and cured the sick people there. In return the villagers promised that they would bury the Fathers when they died. But when that happened, the villagers didn’t come and from that time until recently, the village of Sambronas didn’t have its own graveyard. The ground wouldn’t accept them and they had to be buried outside of their village because they hadn’t buried the 98 Holy Fathers.

The death of Saint John and the cave of the Holy Fathers.

When St John the Hermit left Azogires he went to Gouvernetou on the north of the island stopping at different places on the way and many churches were built in his honour. He was now an old man preaching that god doesn’t need money, just love and respect and if you want to do something good for God you should do something good for mankind – not a lot of people liked what he preached.

According to legend he was wearing a sheepskin jacket one night when he crawled into a garden to get some vegetables to eat. A hunter saw him and thought he was a sheep in his garden and shot him with his bow and arrow. He followed the trail of blood into a cave, where they celebrate St John on October 8 each year, when he saw a large bright light in the cave. He realised what he had done and he went in and asked for the holy man’s forgiveness.

The holy man said,“ I forgive you but you must go to Azogires and find my holy brothers; tell them I am dying and it’s their time to die also. But go now because when the light goes out you might hurt yourself leaving this cave.”

The hunter got out and went to Azogires on his horse; it took him a day and a half. But, according to tradition, by the time he got to Azogires, the Holy Fathers were all dead. They are supposed to be still in their cave, sat in a circle with their sticks and their possessions.

The cave itself is about a 45 minute walk from the Alpha Kafenion, up in the hills towards Spaniakos (ask Lucky for directions). The rear part of the cave was closed in the 1920’s by the priest and by an earthquake but, if you are careful, you can still climb down the iron ladder into the front portion. The cave is supposed to come out in Kadros, on the other side of the mountain from its entrance, 1 1/2 kilometres underground; the water in the cave is said to be able to cure illness and it's believed by some that there are 99 pigeons living there.

A properly surveyed map of the cave is hanging on the wall in the Alpha Kafenion.

(According to one person, the Holy Fathers brought with them from Egypt either the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant and that’s where they got their powers. Nobody knows what it is, but it’s supposed to be something powerful from the Jewish nation and it’s supposed to account for many of the strange and bizarre things that have happened in the village.)

DRAGON'S CAVE

Acording to local legend, in the cave you see above there once lived a dragon who loved human meat. It's said that his favourite meal was unsuspecting children crossing the path below. Up to this day we don't know what this creature was or when it lived but one thing we do know is that the locals are still scared of the area today.

So, when you visit Azogires, it's worth a trip to Dragon's cave; the view is astonishing.

The Azogires Olympics - a true tale

It’s alleged that in about 1976, Azogires, for a very brief moment, nearly became the centre of international attention by being the first village in Greece to revive the ancient tradition of young men competing in foot races whilst naked – the manner in which the original Olympic games were conducted.

According to a local legend* a young Austrian girl then living in the village came to the attention of a rather elderly villager who, in spite of his wife’s protestations, got into the habit of visiting the young lady each morning with presents of bread, olives and honey. It was a purely platonic relationship; the age of the gentleman in question, he was believed to be over 90 at the time, ensuring this.

Eventually the young lady fell under the spell of a handsome** young Scotsman and, in due course, what might be described as a non-platonic relationship developed between these two.

The Austro/ Hibernian entente was rudely disturbed one morning by the arrival of the older Greek man. In those days no doors in the village were ever left locked and when he came to deliver his daily gift, he knocked on the door, opened it and found that the young lady had a somewhat younger suitor. On discovering the couple in bed, his pride was sorely wounded. He then lost his temper and producing his knife, proceeded to exclaim, in a loud voice and complete with graphic gesticulation, exactly what he proposed to do to the young Scot.

At about this point Caledonian discretion overcame Caledonian valour and, without further ado, or pausing to get dressed, our hero leaped out of the bed and out of the window. He then proceeded to make his way, at high speed, down the road past the Alpha Kafenion, pursued, albeit at some distance, by the elderly Greek gentleman who was still waving his knife.

It is said that as the spectacle passed the Kafenion an Austrian resident watching the naked figure remarked that it would be a nice idea to revive the Olympics in their original form. Fortunately, or unfortunately, his suggestion was never taken up.

The number of points the Judges awarded to either of the competitors is not recorded.

*Believed to be one Andrew Millar.
** This fact has been disputed.

Solomonicgraphs

Solomonicgraphs

The origins of black magic in the area.

In the old days some people used to use Solomonicgraphs. These were pieces of paper, papyrus or velum, leather, rolls with evil things written on them, that invited the devils to come and do work for you. There used to be some in the village but people just gave them away or threw them away because they were so evil; there are some in Chania Archives.

A priest in the village had one and he used it. His wife used to tell him to get wood; and he would get the devils to do it, she would say do this, do that and he would get them to do it.

Even though he was a priest he was doing this.

Then one day he said the wrong words to them and they wouldn’t leave. He then spent three days and three nights, or maybe four days and four nights, burning incense and saying prayers in his house before they would leave. He then went down to the river and threw the Solomonicgraphs in the water.

Legend has it that that’s how the people in the old days built their towers and big walls, but that’s just the legend.

The Golden Pig

Saita

The Golden Pig


Down the hill below the road under the Alpha Hotel is and area called Saita - Arrow – Sagittarius for example – the ancient Greek word for an Archer.

This was an area known for its archery contests; because the land was flat that’s where they practiced archery. According to legend the prize in the contests was a “Golden Pig” and this is said to be still buried somewhere around here. However, only the blessed one will be able to see it and the man who reinstates the archery contest again or a clairvoyant will be able to uncover the “Golden Pig.”

Before Venetian times there was a battle between local clans (Families) there –families meaning a King and his people. It’s said that if you go out on a Thursday night at the right time and on the right night, you can hear the arrows flying passed your ears and if you meditate enough you can hear the sound of the battle still going on.

Many people have tried to find the Golden Pig – many people have failed – many people have claimed that they know where it is but it’s cursed and nobody can get it.
Nobody really knows the truth of what happened there, all they know is that people died for the Golden Pig that is still buried there; they only know that the final battle happened.

The olive trees in that area are dated to at least 2000 years old. The smallest olive tree is about one metre in diameter and they are planted one next to the other in lines around the outside of the clearing to leave the land clear for arrow fighting and training and target practice.