The Church and the State
The Church is not separate from the State: the clergy have civil servant status, and the political and economic influence of the Orthodox Church is undeniable. It is customary to consult the Patriarch on major political decisions, and many Church representatives sit on the boards of major Greek companies. The Orthodox religion is taught in state schools, although since 2015, pupils can be exempted with parental consent.
The Church also remains the country's largest landowner, and is still largely exempt from property taxes, to the fury of many citizens who paid a high price for austerity policies during the crisis. In response to this discontent, A. Tsipras's government launched a constitutional revision, proposing at last a genuine political and economic revolution in the links between the Orthodox Church and the State. But one of the first measures taken by the conservative government of K. Mitsotakis was a complete back-pedal on these issues. The Church still has a bright future ahead of it in today's conservative Greece.
A typically Greek syncretism
From the 1st century AD, Greece became an active center of Christianity, and the Dodecanese islands were the first to be evangelized. Saint Paul landed on Lindos, and Saint John received the revelation of the Apocalypse on Patmos. Today, the island remains a major Christian pilgrimage destination: people come to worship at the 11th-century monastery of St. John the Theologian and to visit the Grotto of the Apocalypse, where St. John's visions appeared in 95 AD.
The other islands of the Dodecanese are not to be outdone when it comes to religious practice and places of worship, which vary in size and importance. You can visit imposing monasteries such as the Panaghia Spiliani monastery on the island of Nissiros, or the Archangel Michael monastery on Symi, as well as tiny chapels scattered all over the archipelago. These churches are often dedicated to local patron saints and great families: people go there to light a candle or leave an ex-voto in the hope of solving everyday problems and warding off bad luck. In particular, you'll see mini-chapels, like altars, lining the roadsides. Called proskinitaria, they mark the location of a fatal accident or an accident avoided. Inside are an oil lamp and an icon of the patron saint of the deceased or "miraculous" person.
Superstitions are hard to resist on the islands. Already very strong over 2,000 years ago, the notion of the "evil eye"(kako mati) is deeply rooted in the pagan beliefs that are still held today. We fear it and protect ourselves in a thousand ways to avoid attracting the evil eye of jealous people. Thus, every compliment likely to provoke jealousy must be accompanied by a small mouth sound, like spitting out a seed, repeated three times with the onomatopoeia "ftoussou". Another stratagem: the numerous anti-mati amulets. The most common is in the shape of an eye: the islanders' blue eye adorns many houses, boats and cars, often accompanied by a small icon of a patron saint.
Religious celebrations
Believers without being very religious, the Greeks respect the traditional religious festivals that punctuate the Orthodox calendar. Easter is the most important celebration, barely rivaled by August 15 (Dormition of the Virgin Mary). On these occasions, the islands fill up with all the natives who have left for the big cities of Greece or abroad: it's the great comeback and a much-followed reunion ritual. You'll need to plan your stay well in advance if you hope to secure a ferry berth and accommodation. For a few days, prices soar, but it's a plunge into the Greek world not to be missed.
For almost a week, the Dodecanese islands come back to life after winter, with ritualized banquets and processions to which all are invited. The most important procession is theEpitafios, dedicated to the Descent from the Cross on Good Friday. Patmos, the most fervent island of the archipelago, also offers the most solemn Easter celebrations, including the rite of foot washing on Holy Thursday.
Beyond these major dates, the Dodecanese islands celebrate a whole series of saints and local religious customs during panigyria, held mainly in summer. These festivities bring the island together around a large communal meal and traditional songs and dances, which sometimes continue into the morning. Wherever you are in the Dodecanese, you can't miss them: whether it's celebrating St. Panteleimon at the monastery of the same name in Tilos (July 25), the miraculous icon of Panagia tou Harou in Lipsi (August 23), the beheading of St. John the Baptist at the Agios Ioannis monastery in Halki (August 29) or in the troglodyte church at the ancient site of Vrokounda in Karpathos... Your summer will be filled with opportunities to drink, eat and be merry!
Judaism and Islam
Rhodes is an exception in this very Christian and apparently homogeneous panorama: a cosmopolitan island-capital, it is home to a Muslim community, the Dodecanese Turks, and a few rare descendants of Romanitic Jews. Kos has a similar religious history: it is still home to some 2,000 Dodecanese Turks, but almost the entire Jewish community was murdered in the Nazi camps.
The rich history of the Jews of Rhodes and Kos is told at the Rhodes Jewish Museum, in the Kahal Shalom synagogue, Greece's oldest surviving synagogue. Here you'll discover the traditions and way of life of a centuries-old Sephardic community, speaking Ladino (a Judeo-Spanish language) and integrated into local life until the mass deportation of July 23, 1944: 90% of the women, men and children were exterminated at Auschwitz. A commemorative celebration is held every year on both islands to mark this tragic date.
The Turks of the Dodecanese, who settled here in 1522, now number around 5,000 Muslims between Rhodes and Kos. Despite forced departures to Turkey in the 1970s, the Muslim community is trying to maintain a small network of historic mosques. These include the Soliman Mosque, in the Bourgos district of Rhodes town, and the heavily damaged Defterdar Mosque in Kos. In the Ottoman quarter of Rhodes, don't miss the Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library to admire treasures of Muslim knowledge and theology, while in Kos, you can meet the contemporary community in the village of Platani-Kermetes.
