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Walking
through Cretan tradition
The
trees of Faith
We usually see trees sprouting on the ground, the slopes of
the mountains, the fields, or rocks, where there is even a spur of soil.
On the other hand, we don't see them sprouting on roofs of buildings. Pieces
of grass on the roofs of abandoned buildings are a common phenomenon, but
trees… rather not! However, nothing is absolute and the power of Nature
is vast and often unknown to us, we have seen this too. Not only once,
but twice and we are not talking about a small tree, but grown trees that
have nothing to envy from the rest. Each of them has a story of its own,
which we will present in this article.
“Walking in Cretan
tradition” we met two sacred trees (Mr. Nikos Psilakis has located over
50 sacred trees all over Crete) which have sprouted on roofs of churches.
So, regardless what we believe or even want, these trees raise the interest,
the wonder and the admiration of the visitor, not because they are considered
sacred, but because of the location they “chose” to live.
Chania: Mathes
Apokoronou
At
the village of Mathes Apokoronou at Chania, there was a locust tree on
the tiling of Agios Antonios' church. This tree was similar to the rest
that were sprouted on the ground around the church. Its height was ca 15
m and its trunk had a diameter of ca 2.5 m. The strange thing about this
locust tree was neither its vast size nor its rare tribe, but the fact
that it sprouted, grew and lived on the tiles of Agios Antonios' church.
The history
of Agios Antonios' church begins from the age of the Venetian domination
on Crete. At that time a hermit decided to build a small church dedicated
to the memory of the great ascetic man of Christendom, i.e. Agios Antonios,
on the planted with trees slopes of the village Mathes. He built it near
a spring with gurgling water, which refreshes the inhabitants and the travelers
even today. The hermit also decided to lead an ascetic life there. With
the help of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, the pieces of
stones from the area and some cornerstones and marbles from the ruins of
the ancient city Amfimalla, which was situated further below, the building
begun. After a short time, the small church with the unusual gothic style
was ready.
 Some
day though, no so long afterwards, on the tiles of the church appeared
something that looked like a plant. A few months later a small tree rose
on the tiling. What was happening? Was it a miracle or a rare natural phenomenon?
The traveler
Michael Doefner in his work “Travelling impressions from western Crete”
considers it as a natural phenomenon and writes characteristically about
it: "…So, on the roof of this small church fell, five hundred years ago,
a locust bean from a nearby locust tree. From the soil and the rotten leaves
that had gathered there in time, a seedling sprouted and it became a tree.
The small locust tree was growing and its roots were spreading towards
the walls going inside and reaching the earth.
The
hermit was pleased with the tree and, since he had time to spend, he cared
for it and helped it grow. Therefore, we see today a large locust tree,
which has a diameter of 2,5 m and a height of more than 15 m standing above
the half-ruined roof of the little church. Its roots, ca twelve, thick
like the body of a grown man, reach deep in the earth having surrounded
the little church, grasping its walls…"
Mr. Doefner wrote
these at the beginning of our century, when, during his visit in Crete,
he saw this peculiar cluster of tree and church at Mathes. Surely, the
astonishing phenomenon impressed him. Every year on the 17th of January,
the faithful people who came from all over Crete to honor Agios Antonios,
enjoyed the unique sight and listened to the people of Mathes talking about
the legends and stories of the church. The same thing happens today, but
the locust tree doesn't exist any more. A fire destroyed it a few years,
ago, some days after Agios Antonios name day, at the 10th of February 1982,
except for its roots, which were inside the church and are still preserved
today. The people of Mathes are still talking today with excitement, awe
and sorrow about how Agios Antonios' locust tree was like and how the fire
destroyed it and with movement, they show its relics to the visitor. They
remember with true awe that in spite of the big fire, the church was not
damaged at all. They are still telling the story, they have heard from
their grandparents, about a man from Mathes who tried once to chop the
locust tree and Agios "did not let him", taking the axe away from his hands,
which was found later approximately one kilometer away from the church.
They remember with joy and wonder the two little squirrels (an unprecedented
thing for Crete) that appeared suddenly at the area and lived in the hollowed
log of the locust tree and similarly suddenly and unexplainably they disappeared
after the fire. Were they burnt?
Today, when
the visitors reach the small church of Agios Antonios, they do not suspect
anything about what they are about to see, since from the outside the building
looks like an ordinary small chapel, just like the others all over the
Cretan country. A small opening at the base of the southern wall, where
one can see a thick trunk, triggers the curiosity, as soon as someone goes
nearby, but it doesn't reveal anything about the inside and the original
story of the church. However, when the visitor opens the door and enters,
surprise and awe govern them seeing the thick but already dead roots of
the locust tree, which reach from the ground to the roof. And if the visitor
manages to get together from the shock, they may suspect the uniqueness
of the phenomenon and the size of the disaster that took place there, because
of negligence, as it is reported in the book of incidents of the prefectorial
Fire Brigade of Chania.
AVGENIKI OF
MALEVIZION, HERAKLION
We
have the same phenomenon at the village of Avgeniki in Heraklion. In this
case, it's not a locust tree but a cypress.
At the Byzantine
church of Holy Cross, Stavromenos as local people call it, which is situated
west of the village near the settlement of Vlachiana, there is a cypress,
sprouted on the roof, over the northern wall of the church. Unfortunately,
today it is dead. The restoration works for the church, that took place
at the 1970s, although they did no harm to its roots, they made the church
completely proof of moisture, so the cypress slowly died a few years later,
because of the lack of water. Today, only its dead trunk on the roof has
remained to declare its presence.
Nobody knows how it
sprouted there but the local people think that this happened a long time
ago. Everybody remember how it looked like in the middle of the 1970s.
Its presence was directly connected with the worship of Crucified Jesus.
It was considered a sacred tree with healing properties (its leaves where
cut for talismans).
The respect of the
local people for the Stavromenos tree was great. Therefore, when it was
decided to have the church renovated, which was destroyed by the moisture
penetrating its walls, the renovation was done with big caution, so that
no damage will be caused on the tree. Indeed, the tiles, which were placed
on the roof, made the church completely moisture proof, saving it from
a big disaster. However, they were also the reason for the final countdown
of the tree’s life. It was the moisture that kept it alive and without
it, the tree started to get wilted. It completely died down, disappointing
the local people, who had not foreseen this possibility.
* * * * *
The two cases, although
many kilometers away one from the other have some things in common. Someone
doesn’t easily see trees on roofs and even doesn’t imagine seeing any of
them. It is worth to wonder about the curious and unusual behaviors of
the Mother Nature. The question of how those trees sprouted and grew on
the roofs of the churches cannot be easily answered. However, human carelessness
and negligence destroyed them both. Today they remain dead on the walls
of the churches to remind us of the past. I wonder if their myth ended
along with their destruction or another one has just started.
* * * * * * * * *
*
Earnest
thanks to Mr. Giorgos Tzampourakis, resident of Avgeniki, and Mrs. Maria
Kalaitzidou, resident of Georgioupoli, for their help and hospitality on
my visits there. Special thanks to Mr. Kokolakis Eustratios, resident of
Georgioupoli, for his help and kind grant of Agios Antonios' old photograph
which is published here.
*
* * * *
If
anyone of the readers has in their archive photographs that show how the
trees looked like before their destruction, they are requested to contact
the magazine.
Bibliography:
1)
Archive of Fire Brigade of Prefecture of Chania.
2)
Michael Doefner, "Walking impressions from Western Crete".
3)
Vasilis Charonitis, " Crete of legends", v. A, ed. Smirniotakis.
4)
Nikos Psilakis, "Monasteries and hermitages of Crete", v. A.
Author: Kostis
Loulakis
Translation : Kalliopi
Loulaki
Images and text on this page can be reproduced with written authorization of the publisher and as long as the source is referred to as "(published in STIGMES, the magazine of Crete)" and linked to http://www.stigmes.gr with credits to the writer and/or photographer
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