Greece, Day 7 – May 9, 2024. Over night we traveled from Asia Minor to Greece. Today we toured Patmos which was named a Sacred Island by the Greek government in 1981 and is a popular pilgrimage site. It is where St. John the Evangelist wrote The Book of Revelation.
Check out the mosaic above the entrance of the cave of the Cave of the Apocalypse. The cave marks the spot where St. John received his visions that he recorded in the Book of Revelation. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Inside of the Cave of the Apocalypse, where St. John lived and worked. On the left, surrounded by the gold fence is the spot where his head lay, and to the right of that, surrounded in silver is a ledge where supposedly he placed his hand to get up from reclining.
The seam above where the three rocks meet is said to have been the spot where the revelations were heard to be coming from the Lord.
We could look out over the harbor of Patmos and see our ship.
There are ancient windmills on top of the hills of Patmos. They were used to mill flour.
We visited the eleventh-century Monastery of St. John, built by the monk Christodolous on the ruins of the Temple of Diana. Fortified over the next two centuries to protect it against marauding pirates, this imposing monastery is visible virtually everywhere on the island and has remained in continuous operation for more than 900 years.
There are great frescos inside the Monastery.
The refectory is where the monks ate. They would kneel while eating and their plate and knife were stored in the niches underneath.
We decided to hike down the hill to the town and boat. This a start of the “goat path” which turned into a very old road and then the town streets.
May 8th was the name day of St. John. This is celebrated by Greeks who are named John. We found a shrine to St. John, decorated with fresh flowers, in Patmos during our explorations.
There was a very expensive yacht in the harbor. It was flying the flag of Malta.
It is said that one can find the beaches among the restaurant tables in Patmos.
Here we are walking on the beach with our ship in the background. It was a little too cool to swim but the water was quite warm to the touch.
As previously mentioned, Monastery of St. John is visible from all over the island.