The Sacred Island of the Virgin Mary and island of artists Tinos (along with Paros) is the third biggest Cycladic island. It is situated between Andros and Mykonos. It is pear shaped and 195 sq km in size. It is suggested that its name derives from the Phoenician word “Tanoth”, meaning snake, or from its founder’s name, Tinos. Other names include “Ophiousa” (packed with snakes and “Hydrousa” (rich in water). Aeons ago, the Cyclades formed a land bridge, but the land sank, leaving the tops of the mountains as a string of islands. The Cyclades were so named because it was felt that they protectively circled the sacred island of Delos. There is little to no water, and no natural resources, but the Cyclades were central to trade routes and used for exiles. You can see the evidence of the presence of Venetians who needed the ports. The island was liberated (from the Turks?) in 1821.

In 1822 a nun named Pelagia had a vision of an icon of the Virgin Mary buried in a certain spot. No one believed her, so she dug there herself and found the icon of the Virgin Mary which today is kept in the church of the Annunciation. It was thought of as a sign of victory, since Tinos had just won independence.

The church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary is the most important pilgrimage site in Greece. It was built in 1831 to house the miraculous icon Pelagia found. Thanks to Stella, we were at the church for the annual festival of the icon, when the icon is carried down from the church through the town to the ocean and back.

Pilgrims come from all over Greece for this festival, bearing candles to give as offerings. The candles are supposed to be as high as the pilgrims bearing them, and along the street leading up to the church we saw many shops selling candles of varying heights for pilgrims to buy. The shops also had other offerings, and tokens for requesting help from the Virgin for various ailments.

Every time the Virgin is removed from the church She gets royal treatment and is accompanied by an honor guard of soldiers. Symbolic objects showing miracles attributed to the Virgin are hung all over the church under the oil lamps.

Tinos is famous for its fine quality green marble and for its artists, especially marble sculptors. The island has more than 1,000 pigeon-lofts scattered around, about the same number of small churches, and 50 picturesque, traditional villages, some of them with unique features, like Volax, the village with the meteorites. The dove cotes are there because raising doves was an extra source of income. People would gild and tile the dove cotes to attract more birds.

Tinos also is the site of Kionia, the sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite, built in the 4th c BC, and Xombourgo, an ancient city and castle dating from the 8th c BC, rebuilt during the Byzantine period, and later reinforced by the Venetians.

The village of Purgos on Tinos has a strong tradition in marble-carving, is the birthplace of many artists, and the center of a famous marble-carving school.

It was a trireme from Tinos that defected from the Persian fleet, so as to warn the Greeks to remain in the straits of Salamis and wait for the Persians there, giving them an important advantage for the forthcoming naval battle.

One-third of the island’s population is Roman Catholic rather than Greek Orthodox, due to the 500-year Venetian occupation of the island, which began after the fourth Crusade (1204-1715).

In 1715 AD the island finally surrendered to the Ottoman Turks, who had previously failed to capture it 11 times.

On august 15, 1940, an Italian submarine torpedoed the Greek warship “Elli”, which had anchored in front of Tinos’ harbor for the celebration of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. This incensed the Greeks and made them even more determined in their struggle during WW II.

We then sailed to Paros. Paros is less steep and rocky than Tinos. It has the best marble in Greece — even better than Carrera marble from Italy. Piracy was a big problem during the dark ages, and people moved their many of their homes inland.

There was a church built in the 6th c AD by Saint Helen, the mother of Constantine, on her way to Jerusalem to find the true holy cross. When she reached Palestine, Helen found basil plants and told her helpers to dig there, and she found 3 crosses. The legend is that you can put a dead body on each of the crosses to see which was the true cross, because on the true cross the dead would be resurrected.

Earthquakes have damaged the church. It has a mosaic floor, and a well for the baptismal font. The balcony was reserved for women. The iconostasis screen has icons of the 17th c AD. The church has tombs in the floor. The green marble in the church was quarried in Tinos.

This church built by Saint Helen is now dedicated to Justinian.