Patmos Cultural events and local customs

Since the year 2000 Patmos has been one of UNESCO's Monuments of Global Heritage. The monastery and its treasures, the preservation and maintenance of the Chora settlement from the Middle Ages to the present time, and the sacred Cave of the Apocalypse were the basic reasons why ICOM has chosen Patmos for this special accolade and distinguished it by characterizing it as a monument of global cultural heritage.

Cultural events :
Apocalypse:
Each year at the beginning of September the Prefecture of the Dodecanese in conjunction with the Municipality of Patmos and the Monastery of Saint John the Divine organize a ten-day Festival of Religious Music. Orchestras, choirs and other music ensembles from Greece and abroad come to perform in the open-air venue of the Apocalypse Cave, which forms a natural amphitheatre, for the hundreds of music-lovers residing in the island or visiting it. There they play classical music and contemporary music works whose common point of reference is the expression of religious faith.

Scala:
Each summer the municipality organizes local music, singing and dancing events in the town's square. Visitors favor especially the village fete organized by the Municipality in the square on Easter Monday with folk music and dances and a banquet during which the local roast goat delicacy cooked in the special way of Patmos is served, washed down by plenty of wine.
In Halloween there are carnival festivities organized by the municipality in collaboration with local cultural groups and schools, featuring a parade of floats and people in disguise.

Folklore feasts and celebrations
Chora :
There are the festivals of Holy Christodoulos on March 16 and Saint John the Divine on May 8 and September 26. Moreover there are the village fetes of Aghii Anargyri on the 1st of July, Prophet Helias on the 20th of July and Saint Paraskevi on July 26.

Grikos :
In Diakofti there is a village fete for the Holy Cross on September 13. After the vespers there is a banquet with a lot of wine and the accompaniment of music played by local musicians.

Kambos :
Here we have the festivals of the Savior on the 6th of August and Virgin Mary of Geranos on 15 August. On the day of All Saints (8 weeks after Easter) there is a village fete in the seat of Virgin Mary of Apollo. Families go to church with the food that they have cooked and after the mass there is a feast.

Scala :
On the 15th of August there is the festival of Virgin Mary and on July 17 Saint Pandeleimonas feast takes place in a little island opposite the isle's port.

Customs and lore :
Chora :
In Chora the ritual of the wash- basin takes place every Holy Thursday. It is a rare religious practice whose provenance dates back to centuries ago. It is related to the Last Supper and Peter's denial. Twelve priest- monks impersonate the Lord's Disciples and the Father Superior in the role of Christ washes their feet. The enactment takes place on a special platform in the municipal square and it exudes Byzantine pomp and circumstance. .