Video: Modern Greek fire. Easter rocket war
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Greek fire - one of the unsolved mysteries of Byzantium, a medieval secret weapon: pouring out of the cannons of ancient ships, a special combustible mixture set fire to the ships of enemies. It was because of this terrible weapon of the Greeks that Prince Igor failed to take Constantinople a thousand years ago. Now the secret of the mixture is irretrievably lost - and nevertheless, the reflections modern "Greek fire" will soon illuminate the walls and houses of the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea. Easter is coming and Easter in Chios - the time of the rockets.
The heavy archaic name for this traditional Easter entertainment is Ruketopolemos - means nothing more than "War of missiles". The inhabitants of the small Greek town of Vrontados on the glorious island of Chios are accustomed to meeting Holy Saturday by rocket fire. As Christians believe, it was on this day, almost 2,000 years ago, that Christ descended into hell, opened the gates of hell and carried the good news through them, freeing the Old Testament righteous. It is not surprising that Orthodox Greeks on Holy Saturday set free the fiery, "hellish" element.
Preparation for action lasts the whole year, during which local residents manage to make from 25,000 to 60,000 shells. Who are they going to fight with? As strange as it sounds … with the church. The fact is that there are two churches in Vrontados; half of the city, according to custom, attends services in the Church of St. Mark, and the other - in the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of Heretian. On the eve of Ruketopolis, the parishioners of each of the churches strengthen their abode with refractory materials, and slowly collect their rockets in the cemetery - so that from there they can properly shoot at their competitors!
And then the shootout begins. Sheaves of sparks, the whistle of rockets, volleys of modern Greek fire cover the city - it seems as if a branch of hell is really opening in Vrontados - priests in each of the churches try to read Mass, but gambling parishioners from a rival cathedral launch rocket after rocket - in the smoke and roar, nothing can be made out …
However, despite the formidable appearance, the missiles do not pose a particular threat to the townspeople. From time to time, the fire presents small surprises, but they are quickly extinguished. By the morning of Resurrection, the opponents are reconciled, and the winners of the "rocket war" celebrate Easter together with the vanquished. These are the traditions Greek Easter on Chios - no less strange than the Dance of Death in Vergès, but therefore interesting.
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