This is a clean-up of some trash in Panagia Drosiani monastery.
Date to meet: 26 August 2015
Time to meet: 18:00
Location: Panagia Drosiani monastery, Near Moni vilagge. The best way to come is to follow the signs from Naxos to Apeiranthos-Sagri-Chalkeio-Moni.
Particulars: We will provide trash bags. You will need to bring work gloves and comfortable shoes and clothes. If you have any "grabbers" or pointy trash pick up sticks, please bring them. Don't forget your water and bug spray. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Make sure you log a note saying "Will Attend" so we can have a good head count for the event.
Extra: If you participate in a CITO event between July 31 and Sept. 2, you will receive a digital souvenir on your profile from Geocaching as part of the Geocaching Road Trip 2015 promotion. Other digital souvenirs may be attainable also. Check the nearby caches.
About Panagia Drosiani:
One of the oldest churches in the Balkans and one of the most important Christian monuments of Naxos is the church of Panagia Drosiani, located south of the village Moni.
History:
Panagia Drosiani is estimated that it was built on the fourth or on the sixth century. The entire monastery was found after excavations in 1970, because since then most of it was buried . The church is Byzantine. The surrounding buildings form a cross. Inside the church there were 3 layers of frescoes, with unique value. The first two layers have been removed and transferred to museums where they are exposed. The frescoes that visitors see today are the oldest and those that found in the third layer. About the image of Virgin Mary, no one can speak with certainty about the authenticity of it, because monastery had been the target of antiquities in the '70s.
Myths and traditions:
The deep faith of the people has created many stories and are now an integral "part" of the history of Panagia Drosiani. Some, for example, say that the old villagers had been seeing to the point where the church is the Virgin Mary, every night, so they built it there. The name of the monastery, however, was given, according to residents, because of a miracle: when many years ago there was a long dry season, they prayed to the Virgin Mary and she did the miracle:it started raining in the area. Another legend concerns the marble plaque in front of the image of the Virgin Mary: They say that under this plate was a priceless treasure that no one dared to take it because he would be freezed by Virgin Mary. However some antiquities did not lose the opportunity and in 1970 plundered the place and the next day the villagers found out that the marble slab has moved. Noone knows if there was a trasure under the marble or not...
The visit to Panagia Drosiani
Panagia Drosiani can be visited every day of the year. There is particular interestwhen you visit the monastery on the Friday before Easter, as there takes place the custom of "artidia", whose roots hold in the Byzantine era. According to this tradition, the women of surrounding villages prepare and offer small loafs of bread, called "artidia" and they also offer to visitors raki.