Panagia Evangelistria church on Tinos

I mentioned Panagia Evangelistria in the text of Tinos town. Is it really so remarkable? Yes, actually it is. I believe that I never have experienced anything more extraordinary than Panagia Evangelistria. Maybe not the church itself, but everything that is happening around the church, it's almost like an art installation.

A few decades into the 1800s a nun named Pelagia passed a farmer who was digging in a field. The nun had a vision that it nearby would be an icon and she asked the farmer to dig for it. The icon was indeed where the nun said it would be, it was completely undamaged and to show the icon respect, a church was built on the site as the icon was found.

The grand entrance to Panagia Evangelistria.

The construction of the church began in 1823, after the discovery of the holy icon of the Virgin Mary. It quickly became an important spiritual centre of the Greek Orthodox faith and a popular destination for pilgrimage. The holy icon of the Virgin Mary, venerated in the church of Panagia Evangelistria, is called Megalochari, which means "great grace" in Greek. The icon is a wooden panel painting and is considered one of the most valuable and powerful icons in the Greek Orthodox faith.

This may be the most beautiful church entrance I have seen in Greece.

Panagia Evangelistria has ever since the discovery of the icon been the most important church in Greece and is visited each year by thousands and thousands of Greeks. You could say that Panagia Evangelistria is for the Greeks what Mecca is to Muslims. The icon is not only considered to have healing powers, it is also said that it can perform true miracles.

It is incredibly beautiful inside the church with all the candles lit.

The miraculous reputation of the Megalochari icon spread quickly, and people from different parts of Greece began to travel to Tinos to ask for healing and answers to prayers. Many people testify to miraculous events and penance after praying at the icon.

The beautiful ceiling in the church.

Some Greek friends to me, whose son was very sick as a child, visited the church every year to pray for a miracle so their son would recover. Which he also did after many years. I leave unsaid if it was the medicine science that healed him or if it was the icon. My friends, however, is convinced that the icon was the cause of their miracle.

Picture from our wedding in Santorini.

When I and Camilla were married on Santorini in the autumn of 2003, we visited the church to pray for good weather. It would be bad weather that day according to all the weather reports. But, believe it or not, we had the best imaginable weather during the wedding.

The church has several underground rooms that are also worth seeing.

Every year, especially on August 15, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is celebrated in the church of Panagia Evangelistria. This festival is one of the largest and most significant in Greece and attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the country and abroad. During the festival, large processions are held where the icon of Megalochari is carried through the streets of the city, surrounded by pilgrims and priests. Believers often walk on their knees up the church's long steps as a sign of penance and devotion.

The long slope up to the church. The slope begins at the harbor promenade in Tinos town.

The true enthusiasts crawl all the way to the church. All the way to the icon. It is the crawling that makes Panagia Evangelistria such a strange attraction, the icon's power is believed to increase if you really make an effort to get there. And I find it hard to image that anything else can be more strenuous than to crawl up the long uphill slope and then up the stairs.

The true enthusiasts crawl all the way to the church.

I can't think of anything more strenuous than crawling up the slope and all the stairs.

Crawlers do not have to queue (it would be strange otherwise), they crawl between the legs of those who queue up until they (finally!) reach their goal. All visitors stop at the icon, do the sign of the cross and kiss the icon with dignity and then light candles. The church is richly decorated and beautiful in many ways, even an atheist get affected.

Crawlers do not have to queue, they crawl between of those who queue.

Inside Panagia Evangelistria.

Some of the crawlers are old, some is carrying heavy candles on their backs, and it's a mystery to me how they have the energy to crawl all the way up. But they struggle all theirs way slowly and with determination. Looking down in the ground and bathed in a sweat. You really hope that they get a reward.

Tinos - the island where the Greeks crawl to the cross.

Thank God, you are just as welcome if you come walking on two legs: follow the red carpet through the beautiful gate and up the stairs, if you are lucky there is no queue, if you have bad luck you may be standing a long time - Greek queues are not exactly known to be democratic.

The super commercial street Odos Evangelistrias.

Odos Evangelistrias begins at the waterfront and is one of two streets leading to the church of Panagia Evangelistria. The street is lined with all kind of shops which sell religious knick-knacks and souvenirs of all kinds, mainly wax candles, but also icon copies, crosses, holy water and the usual souvenirs such as stuffed animal donkeys and weathervanes. The wax candles dominate and they are available in all sizes, from a few centimetres up to two meters.

The street is lined with all kind of shops which sell religious knick-knacks and souvenirs of all kinds.

Wax candles are available to buy in all sizes, from a couple of decimetres up to two metres.

When the day trippers are done shopping, they walk up to the church and light their candles. There is no room for the longest candles inside the church and therefore they are lighten to the right of the main entrance. Small candles can be lighten inside the church after having kissed the icon. Candles can also be purchased at the entrance to the church if you forgot to buy. The consumption is huge. Many candles are also lighten for their families that for various reasons can not get to Tinos.

The longest candles do not fit in the church and are lit and placed to the right of the entrance.

Odos Megalocharis lies just to the left of Odos Evangelistrias, and it also begins at the waterfront. It is here that the most devoted pilgrims tormenting themselves by crawling up to the church. I do not know exactly how far it is to the Church, but the distance is certainly not suitable to crawl. Odos Megalocharis is not nearly as commercial as super commercial Odos Evangelistrias.

Odos Megalocharis going to the church of Panagia Evangelistria.

There are umbrellas to borrow to protect against the sun.

The queues for the church can be very long.

Do not miss Agios Fokas beach, which you can read about here »

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