Monastery
of St. John
 Towering
over Skala and, for that matter, over the south island, is the medieval
Monastery of St. John, which looks far more like a fortress than a house
of prayer. Built to withstand pirates, it is certainly up to the task of
deterring runaway tourism. The monastery virtually controls the south island,
where the mayor wears a hat but the monastic authority wears a miter. In
1088, with a hand-signed document from the Byzantine Emperor Alexis I Comnenus
ceding the entire island to the future monastery, Blessed Christodoulos
arrived on Patmos to establish here what was to become an independent monastic
state. The monastery chapel is stunning, as is the adjoining Chapel of
the Theotokos, whose frescoes date from the 12th century. On display in
the treasury are but a fraction of the monastery's exquisite Byzantine
treasures, second only to those of the monastic state of Mount Athos.
Cave
of the Apocalypse
 Exiled
to Patmos by the Roman Emperor Domitian in A.D. 95, St. John the Divine
is said to have made his home in this cave, though Patmians insist quite
reasonably that he walked every inch of the small island, talking with
its people. The cave is said to be the epicenter of his earth-shaking revelation,
which he dictated to his disciple and which has come down as the Book of
the Apocalypse, or Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible. The
cave is now encased within a sanctuary, which is in turn encircled by a
convent. A stirring brochure written by Archimandrite Koutsanellos, Superior
of the Cave, provides an excellent description of the religious significance
of each niche in the rocks, as well as the many icons in the cave. Other
guides are also available in local tourist shops. The best preparation,
of course, is to bone up on the Book of Revelation
Also
Visit: www.explorepatmos.com |
