There are so many summer festivals in Kasso, that the visitor – because the locals remember them all – loses the bill! The biggest and most imposing is the festival of Pera Panagia, which takes place every year on the 15th of August in the homonymous settlement.

But it is not only the Virgin Mary who bears the name of the mother of Christ. The churches of Kasos, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, are much more. Pera Panagia, Panagia tou Emporioou, Portaitissa, Potamitissa, Panagia Faneromeni, Apopantoula, as the locals call her (in Armathia), Panagia tou Ellerou etc. The latter celebrates on September 8 and marks, one might say, the end of summer. As the school season has already begun, this season, and the summer visitors have returned to the filthy city, the pilgrims to the festival of Panagia tou Elleros are few compared to those of the other big festivals of July and August. That is why in the festival of Panagia tou Elleros there is a more “family, one might say, atmosphere.

It seems, however, that the Virgin of Elleros, together with Saint George of Hadia, is the beloved Virgin of the cattle breeders of Kasos. Maybe because it is almost in the center of livestock activity, with many mitata (sheepfolds, shepherds’ houses, dairies) scattered in the surrounding area.

The monastery of Panagia tou Elleros is located on the road that connects Fry with the beach of Gelatros and a short distance from the intersection of the road that leads to Agios Georgios Hadiotis. The area is privileged, in terms of view, as the Libyan Sea stretches at the foot of the mountain below the church of Panagia.

(photo credits: ribandsea.com)