Yakinthos Traditional Cache
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We all know St Valentine’s Day, the celebration of love. But how many people know that in Crete the day of love comes many months later, on 3rd July, on the celebration of St Hyacinth, known here as Agios Yakinthos?
According to Greek mythology Yakinthos (Hyacinth) was a handsome young man from Sparta, lover of God Apollo, who was killed due to jealousy. Apollo turned his blood to the beautiful, well known hyacinth flower.
In modern times Yakinthos was a Christian martyr, a handsome young man from Cappadocia. He became a saint, Agios Yakinthos, the orthodox equivalent of St Valentine, the patron saint of lovers.
In the late 1990s the composer and singer Loudovikos of Anogia, along with the inhabitants of the village of Anogia, built a small stone church in honour of Agios Yakinthos, in the style of a traditional Cretan mitato, the stone round shepherds’ hut usually seen on the mountains of Crete. The surroundings have all the beauty of the Cretan mountains: a rough landscape of rocks and stones, with trees whose trunks are knotted by time.
Each year, on the feast-day of Agios Yakinthos on 3rd July, various cultural events are held up here and in Anogia village. They are known as the “Yakinthia” festival.
We hid this cache on a 5-hour hike we organized from Agios Mamas to Anogia village. It’s a small plastic container with a logbook and a pencil wrapped in a plastic bag.
Enjoy the wild mountainous surroundings!
GCRM
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