PANIGYRIA DE JUILLET

The islands of the North Aegean celebrate a whole series of saints, patrons and local religious customs during panigyria with banquets, songs and traditional dances. The prophet Elijah is celebrated on July 20 on almost all the islands. On Lesbos, in the village of Agiasos on the slopes of Mount Olympus, a three-day festival is held for the occasion. Usually represented as a hermit, Elijah takes the figure of a horseman: an icon of the saint is carried in procession through the streets of the village, accompanied by decorated horses and their proud riders.