Kefalonia, Greece, Part 2.

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After our coffee break in Sami (see previous post), we continue our island tour, and head for the winery of Orealios Gaea. Since we were a bit early for a wine tasting lunch, we made a detour driving up Mount Ainos.

On our way up the mountain, we passed the EUDOXOS observatory,  built in 1999 and named after the ancient Greek astronomer Eudoxus of Cnidus (Knidos, Tükiye). It was the first Robotic (remote controlled) Astronomy Center in Greece built for educational purpose, although the Hellenistic Airforce funded part of the cost. It is in a sad state of repair and according to some sources the educational equipment is no longer in operation due to lack of funds.

EUDOXOS with the educational telescope in the dome to the left and military? antenna dishes (pointing East and West) to the right.
The Ainos National Park is a nice hiking area and covers most of the mountain top.
If you are lucky you can spot the semi-wild horses that originate from the ancient Greek mountain breed called Pindos that were brought to the island and let loose on the mountain by people who obtained them from fairs on the mainland.
After wandering the National Park for a bit we stepped back in the car and took a gravel road down to the verdant Omala Valley, known for its wineries.
The OREALIOS GAEA winery.

The Ionian islands produce their own wines and the those of Kefalonia are well recognised. The most notable vintages derive from the unique Robola grape, thought to have been introduced by the Venetians. 

Our lunch. Three out of eight wines are 100% Robola (all three white wines), complemented by tappas to "cleanse the palette".
Saint Gerasimos Church, as seen from our lunch table with young vines at the front. A visit to this church and nunnery is next. How convenient in the middle of wineries.

Gerasimos, born in 1503 in mainland Greece Trikala, came from the aristocratic and wealthy Notaras family, and is the patron saint of Kefalonia. He was ordained as a monk at Mount Athos, then went to Jerusalem, where he lived for 12 years, passed via Crete and Zakynthos to finally arrive in Kefalonia, where he died in 1579.

The impressive belfry over the equally impressive entrance to the nunnery.

In 1560, Gerasimos founded this nunnery and called it “New Jerusalem”. The nunnery cared for the poor and became a center for charity.

Inner courtyard with guest quarters, for pilgrims who want to attend the great celebrations every August 16th.
Inner courtyards with the tree planted around 1570 by Gerasimos, 454 years ago.
Gerasimus restored this chapel of the Assumption of Theotokos (assumption of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus), to the right side of the tree and build over a cave.
Pilgrims visiting the chapel, for a reason explained below.
The body of Agios Gerasimos is inside this elaborate, silver reliquary, placed on top of the Saint’s grave. The body is made available for veneration, as miraculously, it has never decomposed. (It is mummified). After his death, he was buried twice and exhumed intact, thus leading the church to ordain him as a Saint in 1622. There is a book inside the church where you can write the names of family and friends who you wish to receive Agios Gerasimos’ blessing.
The reliquary in open condition and within it the opened silver coffin. (Photo from internet). During the feasts of Saint Gerasimos – August 16th and 20 October, his body is passed over ill and sick persons for the purpose of healing them. His body is also on display during certain ceremonies.

In 1953, immediately after the powerful earthquake in the region destroyed 90% of the island, there were many claimed sightings of Saint Gerasimos throughout the island who is believed to have comforted and tended to the injured trapped inside homes and buildings. The nunnery was lovingly rebuild.

No pilgrimage is complete without visiting "the hole".

In the rear of the chapel is a hatch in the floor that leads down to the Saint’s hermitage, which is divided into two “rooms” by a narrow hole, where Agios Gerasimos sequestered himself from monastery life. Visitors can descend a three-metre ladder to see the caves that were built by the saint himself. It is said that he lived there before the nunnery was build.

Frits going down the "hole" with the sign on the hatch reading: Please; only 5 pilgrims at a time can descend into solitude. Those with medical conditions decent on their own risk.
After reaching the first cave,..............
.............you can visit a second smaller one with a tiny entrance, where in you will see...............
..............NOTHING.......but being deprived of oxygen you only want one thing............. OUT!
OUTSIDE the nunneries walls a new church was build dedicated to the Saint and inaugurated in 1992. Strangely it was closed at the time of our visit.
Next stop is Saint Georgios Kastro. Most of what we see from this originally Byzantine castle today comes from the Venetians who took it from the Turks at the end of 1500 with the aid of the Spanish and the Kefalonians.
Entrance to the castle on top of a 320m high hill.
The castle is largely in ruins, but the views are spectacular. Here the NW tower.
The coastline looking SE, the island of Zakhintos to the right on the horizon.

What better way to relax after a day of exploring. A bottle of Retsina at Kalafatis waterfront restaurant with life music. These “serenades” are a cultural left-over from the Venetian era, when a suitor and his friends sang during evenings in front of the girls house.

We wonder what this scene will look like 30 years from now. Will they sit around the table with a microphone and beatbox?

A most peculiar geological phenomenon, unique for the Island of Kefalonia, is the hydrological karstic system which connects the sinkholes of Argostoli with the brackish springs of Sami-Karavomilos. The sinkholes are near Saint Theodore lighthouse so we walk in NW direction along the water front stopping at a bust of Nikos Kavvadias.

Nikos Kavvadias

The plaque under the bust reads:

“We’re off! They’re waiting for us in Brazil. The damp sea breeze would have drenched our face. The straits bring us down a warm wind but on shore not a skirt or a handkerchief”.

Nikos Kavvadias was a Greek poet, writer and a sailor by profession. He used his travels around the world, the life at sea and its adventures, as metaphors for the escape of ordinary people, outside the boundaries of reality.

Let’s look a bit closer to the Karstic system so we understand what we are going to see.

  1. Continuous flow of seawater towards the Argostoli sinkholes.
  2. Salt water flows underground eastwards through karstic channels, which were formed during the last glacial period (c. 115,000 – c. 11,700 years ago), when the sea level was lower.
  3. Rain water penetrates through the limestones of the Ainos mountain and is added to the seawater.
  4. The supplementary rainwater causes the water speed in the underground channels to increase, lowering the pressure in the system (Bernoulli’s law) which in turn increases the inflow of sea water in Argostoli.
  5. As the channels get wider, brackish water slows down and gushes out of springs in the coastal area of Karavomilos (Sami).

The sea water INflow has a speed up to 3 m/sec and is strong enough to move the water wheel of sea mills, thus, before the war a power plant and an ice factory were powered by this flow of water.

In 1835 the Englishman Stevens discovered that in the northern edge of the peninsula of Argostoli, the sea disappeared down into sinkholes. There he constructed the first watermill in Kefalonia, naming it after himself.

Throughout the years scientists tried to explain the phenomenon, which was proven when they poured “uranine”, a greenish fluorescent dye, into the sinkholes of the vallies around mount Ainos and it reappeared 14 days later in Sami and Karavomylos, where also water mills are built driven by the OUTflowing water.

It is getting time to move on again and we prepare to leave for Preveza, but that is for the next blog.

Thank you for reading our stories, Liza and Frits.