ust outside the large settlement of Agia Marina, as we are on the small uphill with the place name “Plakes” and on the main car road, after the mill of “Protopapas” and now “Stamatiou”, we catch from our right the other public that it also leads to the rural district, ” Kathistres ” . A short distance from the first houses, near the abandoned tower mill of ” Papa Zoulis ” we find the church of Agios Fanourios.

We do not know many things about the history of the chapel. However, on the stone lintel of the Saint’s entrance door, between the carved representations, in the middle of the cross, the visitor can read the sign, 1890. Another sign informs us that the church is “owned by the Black Elias-Evangelos family of Emmanuel ».

Many believers from all the villages visit every year the church where the Vespers take place and of course the “fanouropites” offered on this day have their honor.

The fanouropita is known to be offered to the faithful as a blessing of the Saint, as the Saint has been associated with the lost objects, which he reveals!… It is usually made with seven or nine ingredients. The choice of these numbers is by no means random, since the role of numbers in divination and magic practices is well known. The seven or nine ingredients seem to enhance the strength of the pie even more!

The cult of Agios Fanourios seems to have started from Rhodes. Where during the tradition his image was found, when they were digging in the ruins of an old temple outside the city walls. His attire was reminiscent of a military saint. In special icons on the same image there were scenes from the martyrdom of the Saint. The Metropolitan of Rhodes Nilos (1355-1369) read the inscription “Agios Fanourios”. From Rhodes his cult spread to the nearby islands and mainly to Crete, where today there are three great monasteries and dozens of temples in which his memory is honored.

The people tell us a lot about Agios Fanourios:

“He is the Saint”, say our peasants, “who reveals the stolen things and the lost things”. Sometimes they believe that it also brings good luck to people. He shows him the way to the good. “It shines on him”, people say about someone who is doing well. “Saint Fanourios shines on him”. That is why the pictures show him holding a lighted candle and lighting it. ” (Vassilis Lamnatou: “The months in the rural and pastoral life of our people”.)

In Cyprus, Crete and other areas, the Saint can reveal to every unmarried girl her future husband! “The unmarried girls who want to get married are preparing fanouropita to reveal the prospective groom.” In Skiathos, “the women who asked him to reveal to them the groom they will make for their daughter” also make a pie in Agios. In Florina, the fanouropita (which the free girls take to church) is used as a dreamy medium with a piece that they put under the headrest (the Saint will reveal the future husband) “.

On the 27th of August every year, in the evening, its festival takes place in the courtyard of Agios Fanourios. And it is one of the twelve festivals that take place every year on our island. [*]

This festival was born during the April junta, and certainly not for political reasons. A group of farmers from Kathistres decided to set up a small party in their neighborhood on the day of Agios Fanourios. So they set up an informal committee, which made a small fundraiser among the settlers in order to gather some chickens but also to buy some other supplies for the preparation of the cassio dish, the appetizers and the wine.

Many considered that party in the then small courtyard of Agios Fanourios to be an outing of the people of the area. However, less than three years have passed and the festival has been repeated and since then continues until today every year, mainly with offers from the sheep that offer their animals for this day. Also at the expense of compatriots the chapel was renovated. A larger courtyard opened. Kitchens and bell towers were built. In addition, it has its own utensils and deservedly competes with the other summer festivals. From what I learned, this year the party lasted until four in the morning, and about 800 dishes were offered free of charge to the celebrants, among others with various appetizers…

Two years ago, in 2011, at some point during the party, we heard the musician and singer George Kanakis Perselis, in the purpose of “Michalis tis Kakias” to tell us the following moving couplets. These couplets were a “memorial” to all those who created the first festival of Agios Fanouris and are no longer with us…

(photo credits: ribandsea.com)