We left Arki and ‘Captain Hotpants’ and had a great sail in 15/19 T knots wind the 13 N miles to the Island of Patmos. The sailing was great with Pat and Alex enjoying helming.

 

As a young teenager I visited Patmos on a school cruise. The island in the 1970’s was undeveloped. The SS. Uganda anchored in the bay and ferried us to the simple port. We then walked up the very steep and long byzantine cobbled road to the monastery. Teenagers today would say where’s the transport ?  The only transport then was by foot or donkey.

 

The approach into Skala on Patmos from the sea is equally beautiful today, but the port now has a cruise liner dock and is much more developed. The island is in the Dodecanese but has the sugar cubed houses of the nearby Cyclades.

We explored the narrow alleyways of the old port town on the first day and on the following day hired a scooter and a car to explore the island.

 

Our main visit was to the Monastery of St John and to the Holy Cave of the Apocalypse.  The Monastery is within the 11th century fort and Chora. It was founded in 1088 by a monk, Christodoulos, in honour of St John the Divine who wrote the Book of Revelations.

The interior of the church within the Monastery is superb but we were only able to photograph the exterior.  The museum within the fort houses beautifully preserved artefacts and manuscripts. The Chora around the monastery is also very interesting with little shops selling religious painted icons on wood and on pebbles.

 

We also visited the Holy Cave of the Apocalypse, where St John lived, worked and wrote ‘Revelations’.  He is said to have heard the voice of God and Angels who used him to dictate the book of revelations word for word.

There is a great sense of spirituality, calm and awe in both the monastery and holy cave.   Visiting them again after 35 years---- each place has the same sense of timelessness.

The ruined Byzantine ‘road’ is still there but now intersected by a busy traffic road, there are no teenagers walking up it and no donkeys to be seen----- in fact no one walking at all.

I walked on it again for old times sake and had the thought that my footsteps perhaps retraced the same stones as I had walked on as a young girl.

The port below has changed out of recognition, but the religious venues and Byzantine road remains timeless.

 

On the afternoon we headed for Petra beach and chilled, swam and snorkelled.

It was great to visit Patmos again, especially with friends, it is a lovely island--- lovely to approach and visit by yacht.

 

 

Photos of

 

Approaching Patmos and the port of Skala.

Exploring ashore

Views over the island and port

Monastery of St John

Holy Cave of the Apocalypse

Byzantine Road of Pilgrimage

Leaving Patmos, cruise ships in the bay 35 years on.

 

Love to all our families and friends

 

Tina and Tony x x

Carol, Par, Alex and Imogen x x