Page 47 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Corfu & the Ionian Islands

Cathedrals and Monasteries ❮❮ 45

Monastery of St John of
7 TOP 10 RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS
Lagada, Zákynthos
MAP L2 • Katastári, Zákynthos
Mountains provide an impressive
backdrop to this remote mon astery,
which has a delightful chapel with
an iconostasis and wall fres coes.
Cathedral of the Virgin
8
Spiliotissa, Corfu
MAP P4 • Corfu Town, Corfu
Dedicated to one of the island’s saints,
St Theodora, this Greek Orthodox
cathedral in Corfu Town dates from Easter procession in Corfu
the 16th century. Its carved-wood 1 Epiphany
iconos tasis is well-preserved and January sees Epiphany festivities take
covered with icons of the Virgin. place, when the waters are blessed at
sea fronts around the islands.
2 Shrove Monday
Signalling the start of Lent, Orthodox
Shrove Monday is marked with a
service at the beginning of March.
3 Lent
Most Ionians mark this period by
observing abstinence to commem­
orate Jesus’s fasting before Easter.
4 Good Friday and Easter Monday
Pretty bombola lights line the routes
of all the Easter processions that take
place on the Ionian Islands.
Cathedral of the Virgin Spiliotissa 5 Easter
Monastery of the Virgin
9 The most sacred religious festival in
the Ionians, Easter is a time for families
Anafonítria, Zákynthos
to celebrate with services and a feast.
MAP K2 • Anafonítria, Zákynthos 6 Procession of the Icon of the
Home to St Dionýsios from the 16th to Sisies Monastery, Kefalloniá
17th centuries, this remote monastery Kefalloniá marks Easter Monday with
is noted for the gold-covered icono s- this important religious procession.
tasis and icons in its small chapel. The icon of the Sisies Monastery is
carried through the streets.
Monastery of St
0 7 Pentecost
Gerasímos, Kefalloniá
This festival marks the descent of the
MAP G5 • Argostóli, Kefalloniá Holy Ghost and is celebrated with
Dedicated to Kefalloniá’s patron saint, church services and family feasts.
St Gerasímos (see p40), whose 8 Dormition of the Virgin
remains lie here, this monastery This festival takes place on 15 August
sits in the foothills of Mount Ainos. and is marked with church services.
9 Christmas
Christmas is marked with festivals,
prayers and the giving of gifts to
friends and family on Christmas Eve.
10 Traditional Festivals
Each island’s patron saint is celebrated
with traditional festivals of dance,
music and feasts in village squares.

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