Magical Chrysopigi

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Of all of the island’s churches, Chrysopigi which is set on a long finger of rock that reaches far out to sea and is considered the protector of the island of Sifnos, is to me the most magical of them all. Panagia Chrysopigi, it’s more correctly called, in English the Virgin of the Golden Spring. Chhhree-so-PEE-yee is the best sense of its pronunciation I can give you in writing. If you’re on the island, ask any local or any traveller who looks to have been there for a while for the proper way to say it and it’s very easy, you’ll learn.

A set of toy sugar-cube-white buildings when seen from the hills above, a rock-enforced bulwark against the strongest waves the Aegean can throw at it, a welcoming angel, Chrysopigi presents a different face from every angle of approach. And though I’ve seen it this way only in photographs, it’s a place of great celebration, the site of the island’s most important annual feast day, and every weekend in summer a succession of brides, many of whom arrive to their waiting groom in a boat bedecked with flowers. It’s also, I’ve been told, where the island’s fishermen have long brought their sons to be christened at the baptismal font on the rocks near the waves.

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I almost missed Chrysopigi entirely the first time I came to Sifnos until someone wisely told me, “You must go there.” I hiked down the twenty minutes or so from the bus stop on the road above, walked through the courtyard past its handful of monastery buildings and when I came to the stairs that lead up to the church, fell down on my knees. I’ve had the same reaction every time I’ve been there. Not from any sense of religious fervour, though, for no Greek or any other sort of Orthodox am I. It’s because I had my camera along and I instinctively knew from the start that its best point of view is from below. The thirty or so stairs are edged on both sides by low white-washed walls that look ordinary enough from normal standing height. But crouch down and they block out any distractions that don’t belong there, become pretty much the whole picture, and their lines lead the eye powerfully to the bell tower and the church’s front door. An angel’s arms if you look the right way, that wrap you tightly inside.

There are countless local legends associated with this site, I’ve read, and I can tell you but one. If you look at Chrysopigi from Faros, around the next cape and where the brides set sail, you’ll see that there’s a split in the rock, that the church is actually on its own island, and that the stairs cross a small bridge on their way to it. At one time this was all a single piece of rock connected to the mainland, the story goes, and it’s plain still today to see this is true. Then miraculously one night, when a band of marauding pirates was chasing after a group of the island’s young women who’d come to light the church’s candles, the rock split in two and marooned the brigands offshore.

Now perhaps, the Virgin could arrange to do something about more modern marauders. The likes of tourists, I’m thinking, such as the one I once heard proclaim loudly – those sorts are always loud, aren’t they? – that tomorrow he was going to “Crystal Piggy.” I changed my plans.

 

“Post”script: Many thanks to those who have made comments about my previous posts. Please keep these coming. I’m also interested in hearing from other readers. Is this the first time you’ve read this blog, or have you been following it for a while? What is your interest in what I have to say? Are you Greek or, like me, someone who’s fallen in love with the country? Have you visited there and, if so, where? Or is yours an as-yet-unrequited, long-distance love affair with this ancient land? Whoever you are, I say welcome. There is a Leave a Reply spot below or, if you prefer, you may email me through my website’s Contact page.

Sharon Blomfield is the author of The Sifnos Chronicles: tales from a greek isle and, new in spring 2019, Sifnos Chronicles 2: more greek island tales. These books are available at To Bibliopoleio, The Book Shop in Apollonia, Sifnos, at Tithorea, a Greek food shop in Rockwood, Ontario, Canada and on Amazon.