Thursday, October 3, 2019

The Cave Church of St John the Hermit, Crete.

Monday, 30th September, 2019.

The morning after Phil's 70th celebrations, orange juice (freshly squeezed) was the order of the day.  Some people have vowed never to drink again.  I made it to bed at 3am, and I was one of the first.

Phil took Roy and me to see the cave church of St John the Hermit.
A view along the way.

According to legend (and Phil), this particular St John wanted to live as a hermit in order to achieve contact with God.  This hillside cave was ideal for his purposes except that it had no water.  John prayed about this and God told him to strike a certain rock with his staff.  Being obedient (and prudent) John did so, and water began to flow and has done ever since. The water is said to have healing properties.

A church has now been built on the site.



When we visited, the water was dripping (rather than flowing) from this rock, into a tank below.

Phil, Roy and I all drank some of the water.  It tasted very soft.  We are now all feeling very well.

Every Christmas Eve, the Nativity of Jesus is represented with real animals, and is very famous throughout Greece.  Phil and Lynn have been to this several times.
Attached to the cave is a small room that was used as a Secret School during the Turkish Era.







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