Monthly Archives: January 2014

Final Resting Places

This week we visited three gravesites: the British commonwealth Cemetery at Suda Bay, the German cemetery at Maleme, and a Late Minoan tholos tomb nearby. It was a great opportunity to see what these burial sites showed about Crete, and Greece, at the time of their construction. As resting places for the dead, their design would have been chosen with care. The sites speak about the dead, but also about Crete’s relationship with the world beyond the island.
Suda Bay is a prominent waterside spot chosen in 1944 for the soldiers from Commonwealth countries who died on Crete. Most of them were killed defending the island from Nazi attack in May 1941. The effort failed, but it may have contributed to a later important German loss in the Soviet Union. The site is manicured, organized and prominent. Each fallen soldier is given an individual headstone customized by country, rank, and religion. Each grave is easily accessible, and the many visitors from Commonwealth countries in the guestbook have clearly spent time finding specific young men. Freshly smarting from German occupation, the designers of the cemetery created a public spot to honor Crete’s heroes – a celebration of victory.

But what about the bodies of Germans killed in the battle? Kept in isolated graves and eventually moved to a monastery, it was not until 1974 that they were provided with a final resting place. This secluded area is very different from Suda Bay. Here, the landscaped graves blend together, masquerading as an olive grove. Soldiers share headstones and graves are difficult to access. To me, the area suggested healing, unity and a smoothing over of the past. Likely it blends in both to avoid offending residents, but also to convey that the war is a thing of the past. Dedicated just months after the fall of Greece’s military junta in 1974, the site suggests a willingness of the new government to be welcomed into modern Europe.

Just a little past the cemetery is a stone “tholos” tomb from the Late Minoan period. Built into the hillside, slightly square and using a long entryway, the site has Mycenaean (mainland) characteristics. Even so, it is the product of a transitional period on Crete with the arrival of Mycenaean influence. I had to wonder why the builders chose this specific design, and whether it was an effort to deal with these changes on the little island. Just like the designers of the cemeteries nearby, their choices reflect Crete’s constantly changing position, as different groups gained power. In what we have seen so far, maintaining an identity in the midst of these shifts is a key goal of Crete’s rich array of culture.

Arkoudospilios Cave

Just beyond the walls of the Gouvernatou Monastery is a paved path that zig-zags down one side of the Avlaki gorge of Akrotiri. The path ends (or so we thought) at the Katholikou Monastery, but its first major landmark is the Arkoudospilios Cave. This large cave seems to have been sacred to Artemis, but now houses a very small chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cave’s association with Artemis seems to originate from the bear-shaped stalagmite at the centre of the largest area of the cave, and is appropriate on Crete, where Artemis is especially venerated. Local myth claims that the bear was petrified by Mary when the local monks of Gouvernatou were plagued by thirst. Thus, the small chapel was dedicated to her.
Caves like this one are interesting to me for their manipulation of the senses for the purpose of ritual. The distinct brand of sensory deprivation and exhaustion offered by caves like this and that at Eleusis inspires an epiphanic experience and devotional bond to the deity. For the modern uninitiated student, these shadowy rites come closest, even in their mystery, to explaining a religious system that can seem merely accessory in light of contemporary advances in social, political, and technological sciences, not to mention a timeless cultural mosaic of theatre, music, and visual arts.
The most exciting part of the cave complex, though, was a small icon within the modern chapel. Beside the obligatory Mary and Jesus icons was a depiction of two saints wearing the traditional Cretan garb that Alex, the secretary of Etz Hayyim, told us about yesterday. The outfit includes deep indigo harem pants, a needle-point head scarf, a distinct 4-5 meter red belt, and a special knife with a triangular hilt, whose shape has gruesome utility.

Alex described this distinctive Cretan order only when we asked him how he saw the Cretan identity functioning discretely from a larger Greek identity. It was in Arkoudospilios that we saw the first echoes of the island identity imagined and described by one Cretan reappear kilometers away in the deserted hillside of Akrotiri.

The Road Less Traveled

There is a line in a Robert Frost poem that goes: “I took the road less traveled.” Today our group did just that. We hiked around 2.8 miles on the property of a monastery, Holy Monastery of Gouverneto. Overall,we went to two monasteries and also a cemetery. However, the hike was my favorite part.

The monastery is built inland behind rocky mountains and hills, which lead out to the sea. It was purposely built there because it’s position offered safety. Our goal was to hike from the monastery all the way to the ruins located a ways away from the monastery.

With Ramona leading the way and myself carrying the Wellesley banner, we headed out. We saw many caves including a cave of Artemis. There were many icons of Greek saints and other spiritual figures within the caves. It was amazing to happen upon these objects on our journey, like seeing glimpses into the spiritual world. In fact, many monks lived in the monastery and most likely walked the same rocky terrain we faced.

Eventually, we split into two groups by the middle of the trek. Eight of us ventured forward while others stayed at at the bridge and then returned by our original path. The new path up a ravine was challenging, and I could hear myself panting. Yet I continued on proudly with the Wellesley banner in my hands. Despite the beating sun, I happily enjoyed the ocean breeze, the beautiful views of the rocky terrain, and the amazing experience of being with the group.

We didn’t know at first where the path would lead since it trailed away from the ruins. But just like the monks, we proceeded onwards. If anything, I tried to imagine myself as a monk, walking on these trails and taking the spiritual road “less traveled.”

Etz Hayyim Synagogue

Our afternoon visit to the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Chania today was an enriching experience that shed light on an unexpected heritage in the midst of this historical town. The story starts out in the late fifteenth century, when the structure was built by the Venetians to serve as a Catholic Church. The building was placed at the heart of the Jewish neighborhood in Chania, which was closed off by gates each night from the rest of the town. The Jewish populace at the time consisted of approximately 600 individuals, and they were predominately Romaniote Jews.

It was explained to us that around the 17th century, when the Ottomans took charge of the island, the Jewish neighborhood was opened up to the rest, and the building was renovated and began functioning as a synagogue. During that time period, the Jewish population was also witnessing an increase in numbers – doubled to be more precise – as the expelled Jews from Spain migrated to Crete. To accommodate this rise in numbers, a second synagogue was built across the street.

However, the stability that had been maintained for centuries was interrupted in 1941, when Nazi Germany attacked the island. The bombings of Chania managed to destroy the newly created synagogue, but fortunately the Etz Hayyim Synagogue remained standing. The story tragically escalates in 1944, when the Nazis shut down the Jewish neighborhood and performed door to door arrests. All of those who identified as Jewish were transported to local prisons, then taken to Heraklion to be shipped off into the various concentration camps that were scattered around Europe. Only three people managed to evade capture, two men and a woman; she was the only one who remained in Crete. Those on the ship lost their lives while being transported, when the T’anaïs was sunk by an allied submarine.

After World War II, the building was abandoned until 1996, when a three year renovation plan restored the structure to its former glory. Today, it serves as a place of worship for a community of twelve Jewish residents of Chania and Heraklion, and to all others who are interested. This synagogue is considered to be the second oldest synagogue in Greece, and it is also mentioned in the top 100 most endangered sites in the world.

Dionysus in Linear B and Art

Today’s adventures were a nice mix of language, culture, history, art, and religion. Though the morning started off rocky with there only being frigid cold water so I could not (would not) take the shower I so desperately wanted. But after breakfast, we began our next bit of crash course Greek reviewing the introductory phrases we have learned so far and then beginning to understand a Greek menu. I’m finding myself remembering more and more which makes me happy. After modern Greek, We received an overview of Linear A and B, which helped me to finally grasp what each one is and who used what.

Though, I was most interested in the story Cashman told us about a tablet that references Dionysus. I should preface this by stating that Dionysus is my favorite Greek God so I always latch on to something when he is mentioned. This fragmentary tablet, however, states that an amphora of honey (?) was dedicated to Zeus and two amphorae for Dionysus. One reason this is interesting is that scholars believed the Greek tradition that Dionysus was a god imported into Greek from the East relatively late, as described in the opening lines of Euripides’ Bacchae. Though he is clearly referenced in this material (and he is even getting more than Zeus!) that dates nearly 1000 years earlier so this assumption cannot be true. I’m curious to know why Dionysus was receiving more offerings than the king of the gods. Is it because the Minoans were completing this dedication for festival rites in honor of Dionysus or because they favored the wine god more?

In the museum there were a couple other objects depicting Dionysus. One included a beautiful Roman floor mosaic that showed Dionysus coming upon the sleeping Ariadne for the first time. This mosaic was likely to be the location of where the family would have had their meals. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to have such an ornate and beautiful floor as part of my dining room! There was another relief that depicted a Bacchic scene.

Fun fact: sarcophagus in Greek literally translates into flesh eater…things make so much sense now!

The Linear B tablet mentioning Dionysus

Floor mosaic

relief of a Bacchic Scene

We’re all here in Chania!

There are still traces of the holiday season in Chania’s harbor.

We are excited to all be in Crete, with all of our luggage too… Our travels were complicated by the extreme weather in the US, but now all we have to fear is a little rain.

Students will be posting to this blog once or twice a day, describing our travels across Crete and what they are learning about the island’s history and culture. I suspect we might also see some images of the beautiful landscape and adorable animals.

Twelve students are enrolled in this traveling course “Crete through the Ages,” including majors in Classical Studies, History, Art, and Economics – to name a few. Over the next three weeks we will cover most of Crete, the largest island in the Aegean Sea, visiting a variety of sites, cities, and all four coast lines. Our studies will explore a long span of history, with special emphasis given to the art and architecture of the Minoan civilization (3000-1000 BCE). Our first day in Chania, however, has been dedicated to more recent periods since the city preserves wonderful buildings of the Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman periods.

The “Mosque of the Janissaries” was built immediately following the Turkish conquest of the city in 1645. It occupies a prime location in the city’s harbor, and today is used as an exhibition space. In addition, most of the city’s Venetian churches were converted into mosques for the new Muslim population. Although you can still find a few minarets preserved around town, most of these buildings now function as Greek Orthodox churches.

The Wintersession in Crete group gathered in front of the Mosque of the Janissaries in Chania’s harbor.

Crete 2014

Wellesley College Blog for our January course in Greece