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Inside all the caverns in Kythera there are chapels (with
or without wall-paintings).
Passing from Avlemonas the ship "Mentor" sank
of Elgin in 1802, transporting the stolen sculptures of
Parthenon. Most of the marbles have been pulled
out from the bottom by divers from nearby areas.
In Potamos every Sunday for hundreds of years it happens
regularly the famous market with many local and foreign
products.
In Karavas there was an orange tree for the harvesting
of which all the young people of the island climb to pick
the 35 - 40.000 oranges, while all the donkeys of the
village for 2 - 3 days carried date to date the oranges
to the beach in Platia Ammo to load for Piraeus.
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There is in Fratsia a beautifully built stone symbol with
a white marble plaque depicting two pairs of dolphins each
headed in opposite direction, and o compass with the words
"In remembrance of Migration Motherland dedicates".
The bridge in Katouni (Linadi area) is the largest stone made
bridge in the Balkans.
In the place Paliokastro (the ancient capital) it is said
that Menelaos, the famous king of Sparta, kept his summer
palace and that it was there that Pares along Beautiful Helen
found shelter after her abduction to enjoy their love.
In Amoutses (area near the airport) it has been found an entire
hill, which according to a scientific opinion has fossils
that their age exceeds the 9 million years.
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Makrikythera, the island opposite Diakofti, was
bought by the Association of Greek Literalists
(1954) with the prospect to become a place of
meeting of the Pan-Hellenic and international
spirit.
Inside Paliochora, of the kastropoliteias of St.
Demetrios -that was ruined from Barbarossa- they
were around 70 Byzantine churches, while this
Castle is considered to be the only Castle in
Greece under a hill.
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The religious element has and always had a separate place
in the heart of the Kytherians wherever they may be. Their
religious love and devoutness is proved from the number of
churches in Kythera but also the built of many temples throughout
Greece and abroad, places that the Kytherian element lives
and prospers.
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The history of the four big Monasteries of the
island is being introduced briefly.
The nunnery of Panagia Myrtidiotissa
(west part of the island) was built firstly in
1857 (smaller temple) in the place that according
the tradition a shepherd found the icon between
bushes of myrtle (from which Virgin Mary was named
after).
Characteristic of the icon was the black color
of the represented faces, Virgin Mary and Holy
Infant. The day of celebration of the monastery
is the 24th of September where a lot of people
gather in the nunnery.
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The Monastery of Agia Moni that is built on top of the mountain
was built in 1840 after the icon of Virgin Mary was found
by a shepherd between the bushes whom was looking for his
lost sheep. This icon has the particularity from one side
to represent Virgin Mary and from the other side St. George.
According to the tradition the renovation of the nunnery was
undertaken by Theodore Kolokotronis, when chased after by
the Turks took shelter there. He made a vow to restore the
monastery when Greece is free. He kept his promise.
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St. Theodore was from Koroni and came to Kyhtera
(from Monemvasia) to become a monk in 10th century.
He lived in a small temple that is now built the
Monastery. Byzantine soldiers that came into the
island found the Saint that had slept at 12th
of May 961 A.D. and his relics three years later
intact. St Theodore has great importance for the
island: He is considered to be life giving because
when he came in Kythera it was a desert island.
The Monastery of Agia Elesa is built on top of
a mountain that is 433 m. high with an impressive
view. The nunnery was built in 1871 and the memory
of Agia Elesa is been celebrated every 1st of
August. The story of Agia Elesa is very touching.
The Saint -she was originated from Peloponnese
and was the daughter of an idolater official-
disembarked secretly in Kythera, in Melidoni at
375 A.D. to be a nun after her denial to marry
the young man her father wanted. Nevertheless
her father unmoved pursued her in Kythera.
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The Saint reached the top of the mountain where the Monastery
is built and begged God to open the earth in order to hide
from her father. So it happened: There was a crack in the
mountain from where she climbed on top of the mountain. But
her father was waiting for her right there. Agia Elesa suffered
horrible tortures to deny her belief and follow her father.
He whipped her and hanged her in a carob-tree until he finally
decapitated her. The grave of Agia Elesa is located in the
yard of the nunnery.
There are also other smaller temples with particular historical
value like St. George in the mountain (where first Minoan
sanctuary summit outside Crete was found), St. Nicolas the
Krasas (for his construction they used wine instead of water),
Virgin Mary the Orphan, St. Dimitris in Pourko (with his archaeological
findings and the wall-paintings of the 12th century), the
Saints Cosmas and Damianos and others.
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SIGHTSEEINGS