Good Friday in Chios Town – Chasing the Epitaphio
As we sailed back into Chios from Cesme with our haul of bargains we were greeted by a magnificent rainbow over the town. The weather looks a little unpredictable but we just hope it remains dry for the Good Friday processions this evening.
It’s a 10 minute walk from the Customs building to our hotel. We are staying at the Agora Residence on the main shopping street of Aplotarias. When I was in Chios in 2022, the architecture of the hotel had caught my eye so when I came to book our stay it was at the top of my list. This 19th-century house was the private residence of a Chian citrus fruit merchant. There are 9 rooms in total which have all been renovated with modern amenities but accentuated with stylish vintage furniture. On the ground floor is the Agora Residence Garden Cafe, which offers light bites throughout the day and of course, breakfast for guests. A shared wrought iron balcony overlooks the main street.
We are checked in by a lovely lady called Panagiota who shows us to our room. Inside there is an Easter gift of traditional red eggs and 2 candles. We will stay here for 5 nights.
We have just enough time to shower the seaspray from our bodies before we head out to observe the Good Friday processions. I’d read that several churches from Chios Town will join the procession with their epitaphios. These beautifully decorated icons represent the tomb of Jesus. It takes days to embellish it with freshly picked spring flowers.
One of the churches is the Holy Metropolitan Church of Saints Menas, Victor and Vincent a short walk from the hotel. We had cut it fine. A crowd had already gathered in front of the church and I assume was packed to the rafters inside. We didn’t have to wait long before the epitaphio was carried from the church and onto the street to begin the procession. The mournful bells tolled and the procession began.
By the time the other onlookers had joined the throng, we realised that we’d lost sight of the epitaphio. As we couldn’t join them we decided to beat them and headed down a side street to head them off at the pass. My instincts told me that the procession would make its way onto the harbour front so we ran down another side street and were able to get ahead of it. A marching band had now joined the parade.
The epitaphio leads us to the Central Square of Chios and is joined by two others from neighbouring churches. The atmosphere is electrifying. As the epitaphios disperse and make their way back to their respective churches we decide to call it a night. We’re pooped! Just as we arrive back at the Agora Residence I can hear the sound of the marching band and realise that they are making their way back to the Metropolitan church via Aplotarios Street. We take the stairs up to the balcony. There is nobody else here – it was like having our own private box! What a day!
(BTW I’m not actually that close to the procession – I was zoomed in!)
