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This Month
28th October: Public and Local Holiday |
Church of Four Martyrs |
On October 28th Greece has a national holiday: ‘Οχι’ Day. This
commemorates Greece’s ’entry’ into World War II on 28th October 1940.
You can find out more about the background to this event on our
‘Spotlight’ page. As on any public holiday, banks, offices and many
shops will be closed throughout Greece.
In Rethymnon, 28th October is a special day for another reason. It is
the day when Rethymnon honours the Four Holy Martyrs (sanctified by the
Orthodox Church). These were Crypto-Christians, all from the Vlatakis
family and from the Melambes region, who were executed by the Turks in
1824 for standing up for their Christian beliefs.
The imposing Church of the Four Martyrs was consecrated in December
1975. It may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but “Four Martyrs” is
a bit of a misnomer for this church. The central aisle is indeed
dedicated to the four latter day local saints; however, the northern
aisle is dedicated to the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste—Christian Roman
soldiers, martyred in Armenia during the reign of Licinius in AD 320 —
and the southern aisle is dedicated to the Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete who
were beheaded by Decius in 250 AD. |
‘World Days’ in October
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Spare a thought for a bear |
There are several ‘World Days’ to be marked in October, here we list
just three. World Animal Day is celebrated every year on October 4th.
World Animal Day was started as an initiative in 1931 by a group of
ecologists in Florence. Here we would like to think that every day is
World Animal Day, but this might be being a little bit naïve. A number
of cities across the globe have activities planned to mark the occasion,
to find out more check out the
www.worldanimalday.org.uk website. We’re not aware of any special
events in Rethymnon BUT: Friends of Animals in Rethymnon can always use
help, at any time. Their website address is
www.animals.rethymnon.org
World Mental Health Day is celebrated on October 10th. This year the
focus is on culture and diversity, with a particular emphasis on
problems that are associated with migration. Mental Health Charities
have a huge mountain to climb in terms of gaining funding — ‘mental
illness’ cannot be presented in a ‘cute and cuddly’ light (note lack of
photo), even now in the 21st Century, mental health problems are
horrendously stigmatised. This is despite the fact that at least 10% of
people in any given population will experience some form of mental
illness during their life span. Websites worth checking out are: World
Federation for Mental Health:
www.wfmh.com or Mind:
www.mind.org.uk
Finally, on 16th October we celebrate World Food Day. Guess what this is
all about (clue, there are still people who don’t have enough to eat) ?
To find out more you can visit the
www.fao.org website. |
21st October 1805: Battle of Trafalgar - Lunch at Lake Kournas in 2007? |
Taking up column space? |
You thought we’d forgotten, didn’t you?! Well we haven’t. As a result of
that highly enjoyable (but slightly mad) night at Camping Elizabeth in
June (Midsummer, hippy pants, bamboo), management suggests the
following: We can all meet at Lake Kournas on Sunday, 21st October for
lunch. This can be done without commandeering pedaloes, playing
war–games (with or without water pistols) or blowing up wild-fowl in a
nature reserve (‘Fair Trials Abroad’ please take note). Quite aside from
anything else, no-one has knitted the hats and flags yet. And we still
don’t have the faintest idea why we should be celebrating the Battle of
Trafalgar in the first place. But all options are open and everyone is a
free spirit, so let’s just go with the flow at snake lake….
So, what’s the plan then? Well, Kate and Luc will be there from 12 noon.
‘Not good enough, direction-wise’ we hear you cry. OK. From Georgeopolis
go down the tourist road to the Lake (rather than the quiet bit at the
North End, you’ll find out soon enough if you’ve made the wrong
decision) past pottery shops etc. Turn right at junction (after having
parked car somewhere sensible or having disembarked from Happy Train or
taxi) and we will be at the second taverna on the left. If wet, we’ll be
inside, drinking raki, possibly wearing wellies.... |
October Trivia |
04/10/1830: Belgium gained independence from Holland
08/10/1871: Great Chicago fire
09/10/1967: Che Guevara killed
12/10/1492: Columbus sailed the ocean blue
16/10/1793: Queen Marie Antoinette executed
20/10/1968: Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis |
21/10/1959: Guggenheim Museum opens in New York
24/10/1901: First barrel ride down Niagara Falls
25/10/1881: Birth of Picasso
29/10/1929: Wall Street crash
30/10/1938: Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast |
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