Religion in Crete
In Crete, even in the remotest corners, ex-voto, chapels, monasteries and churches are an integral part of the landscape. As everywhere in Greece, Orthodoxy may be omnipresent, but it is enriched by pre-Christian practices and superstitions firmly rooted in the distant past. The Orthodox religion is, of course, a dogma, but above all, it is an occasion for celebration. Indeed, there is no shortage of occasions to celebrate the patron saint of each town or village at large religious fairs, in other words, panigyria. On this occasion, the people mingle with the partygoers and it is then that music, dance and above all the big banquets follow the mass and last all day and night.
At the administrative level, the Church of Crete has a semi-autonomous status and is directly linked to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The Church of Crete was officially founded in 64 by the disciple of St. Paul, the Apostle Titus, patron saint of the city of Heraklion.
Church and State in Greece
The Greek Orthodox Church is autocephalous and has its own statutes, while its doctrine is inseparably linked to that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.
Not yet separated from the State, the Orthodox Church has undeniable influence in both the political and economic sectors. The Orthodox religion is taught in public schools, although since 2015, pupils can be exempted from it with the agreement of their parents.
The Church remains the largest landowner in the country, still largely exempt from property taxes, to the fury of many citizens who paid a heavy price for the austerity policies during the crisis. In the face of this discontent, a constitutional revision had been launched by the government of Alexis Tsipras, finally proposing a real political and economic revolution of the links between the Orthodox Church and the State. But one of the first measures taken by the conservative government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis was a total back-pedalling on these issues.
Religious Celebrations
Believers without being fervent practitioners, the Greeks respect the religious festivals that punctuate their lives and the Orthodox calendar. In Crete, Orthodox Easter and St. George's Day are the most important celebrations of the year. On these occasions, the island fills up with natives who have left for the big cities of Greece: it is the moment of the great return and a ritual of reunion that is quite followed. The Easter celebrations in Crete coincide with the opening of the tourist season and this offers a very good opportunity to plan on these dates a dive into Cretan traditions.
Celebrating the resurrection of Christ, the Orthodox Easter is also the occasion to celebrate the arrival of spring. The rites followed are numerous. The most important procession is that of the Epitaphios, dedicated to the Descent from the Cross, on Good Friday: a representation of Christ's tomb, most often in carved wood, decorated with flowers and carried by men, is solemnly followed by the faithful and all those who like to participate in the traditions of the country. The Resurrection is celebrated on Saturday evening at midnight: the flame of the Good News announcing that Christ is in heaven is passed from candle to candle and from hand to hand.
Beyond the major dates, the most venerated saint in Crete is Saint George, patron saint of peasants and shepherds, celebrated on April 23rd. The shepherds are seen gathering their flocks, the animals being washed and decorated for the occasion and taken to the village church to receive the priest's blessing.
The Jewish community of Crete
The Etz Hayyim Synagogue, which is in Hania, is the unique testimony of the presence of the Jewish community in Crete, one of the oldest communities in Europe. The Jews settled in Crete in the Hellenistic period, around the 3rd century BC, and followed the Romaniote tradition. In the 18th century, there were 2,000 Jews and 8 synagogues in Crete. In the following centuries, the population fell drastically and when the Nazis arrived in 1940, there were only 400 Jews left. From the first days of the occupation, the synagogues of Heraklion, Rethymnon and the Beth Shalom in Hania were completely destroyed by bombing. The cemeteries of Rethymnon, Hania and Heraklion disappeared. On June 9, 1944, 276 Jews from Hania were loaded onto the Tanais, bound for Auschwitz. On the way, the British fleet torpedoes the ship, mistaking it for a German ship. There are no survivors. The Etz Hayyim synagogue was reopened in 1999 but only about twenty families from elsewhere celebrated Jewish holidays there. In a spirit of tolerance and openness, one can gather there in front of the small memorial to the shipwrecked of the Tanais and in front of the four ancient tombs of rabbis (18th and 19th centuries) in the tiny cemetery adjoining the ancient mikveh, the ritual baths dedicated to women.
The Turco-Cretans
The mosques and minarets are undeniable signs of the long period during which Crete was occupied by the Ottomans. However, well beyond this period, the Turkish-Cretan community was able to resist the assimilation imposed by the Ottomans at first, and by the Greeks later: while remaining Muslim, it asserted itself as Greek. The Turkish-Cretans were in the majority in the three cities of Hania, Heraklion and Rethymno. At the end of the 19th century, more than 40,000 Turkish-Cretans left Crete as the autonomous Cretan state was created under pressure from the great powers. In 1912, when the island was annexed to Greece, the Turks and Cretans represented 11% of the Cretan population. They had to leave Crete for good following the Asia Minor disaster in 1922 and the Lausanne Convention in 1923. The fate of the populations exchanged over the centuries did not spare either the Turkish-Cretans or the Greeks who arrived from Asia Minor: the local Turks called some of them gavur fidanı (unfaithful shoots) because they did not speak their language; the local Greeks called others tourkosporoi (Turkish seeds).
