A traditional local festival reflecting the spirit of the village life in Kassiopi around the Greek Orthodox Church.
A traditional local festival reflecting the spirit of the village life in Kassiopi around the Greek Orthodox Church.
A traditional local festival reflecting the spirit of the village life in Kassiopi around the Greek Orthodox Church. A procession carrying the Icon of the Virgin Mary, to whom the church is dedicated, encircles the village after the morning mass, accompanied by a brass-band and the local choir. In the evening, at Kassiopi harbour, by the seafront, there is live music, dancing, lamb cooking on the spit and wine served at the canteens that are set up for the day’s celebration along with souvlakia (kebab sticks). With the few tourists present and the locals happy to be outdoors after the winter months, there is much conviviality and joyful anticipation for the summer season ahead.
This traditional festival commemorates the Virgin Mary of Kassiopi for a miracle she is believed to have performed within the walls of this very church, back in 1530. While Corfu was under Venetian Rule with its harsh punishment of crime, a young man named Stephanos, claiming to have been unjustly accused of theft and blinded, came to the Church of Kassiopi in search of mercy. During the night, while sleeping inside the church, Stephanos woke up his mother to ask “who had lit the oil-lamps”. He had felt the Virgin Mary’s hands on his eyes, before opening them, seeing her and discovering he had miraculously regained his sight. The incredulous Venetian administration confirmed that his eyes had in fact been removed during blinding and safeguarded, and that the new pair of eyes were of a different colour, before acknowledging this miracle.