Skopelos Legends
The green and histrionic Skopelos island is located in the Sporades archipelago Islands between the Skiathos island and the Alonissos island.
As for all of Greece and as for the ancient continents, there are many legends surrounding it, some known, others secret and the domain of the inhabitants only, which give an idea of what this land was not in the past and what happened positively or innegative to make it become what it appears to us today.
As for Skopelos, the most famous one is certainly linked to its churches. According to traditional stories, in the period of the Catastrophe in Asia Minor of 1921 a real national drama that recalls the sad defeat of the Greek army during the Greek Turkish war, with the destruction of the Smyrna city and the genocide of the Anatolian communities Greek women present for millennia had to leave the areas where they lived to return as refugees to Greece, creating even more hatred between the two nations. The eviction was not peaceful at all, many people were brutally massacred and those who managed to escape upon their arrival and settlement had big problems with the Greeks as they were not considered as such but a race mixed with the Turks, so much so that they createdstrong tensions that in 1923, the Hellenic state was forced to ask for help from the League of Nations, the first intergovernmental organization that had the aim of protecting the conditions and quality of life of human beings. During the exodus, the Greek population who was denied everything and above all the Turks wanted to erase the customs and traditions, to save the sacred icons they threw them into the sea preferring an uncertain end rather than being burned and destroyed as a sign of disgrace on the part ofof the Turks. The religious images then floated throughout the Aegean Sea and were deposited with the tides on the coasts of the islands. Specifically, 360 were found in Skopelos and a church was dedicated to each one.
Another myth linked to the Skopelos island is dedicated to Stafylos a Minoan Prince son of the God Dionysus and Ariadne the princess daughter of Minos who was the first to land together with his brother Peparithos on the island and precisely on the wonderful beach that takes his name by buildingthe first settlement. On the promontory at the end of the coast, there is an ancient cave in which the Bronze Age tomb was kept and where the golden sword of Stafylos was found, now preserved in the Athens Archaeological Museum. The Argonauts were a group of fifty brave warriors who, under the leadership of Jason, went as far as Colchis, western Georgia in the Caucasus region to conquer the Golden Fleece, the Chrysomallus cloak , a winged ram that the God Hermes gave to Nephele who had the power to heal any wound or disease. It is said that the name Staphylos comes from the goatherd of King Aeneus who, while grazing his sheep, saw the animals chewing a grape plant, taking it and paying homage to the king who found a way to transform it into nectar. When the God Dionysus, visiting Aeneus, tasted the drink, he was so enraptured that he decided to call it oinos (wine) and the grape Stafilo in honor of its discoverer.
The Drakontchisma Legend. Between Stafilo beach and Velanio beach there is Cape Amarantos where there is an imposing rock called Drakontochisma the Dragon Rock which represents the ferocious animal and seems to have been sculpted by a human being and not by Mother Nature.But let's get to his exciting story. About eight hundred years ago a ferocious winged demon appeared on the island and ate human beings, so much so that the survivors of this dramatic fate were forced to abandon Skopelos. However, the dragon was the perfect solution to eliminate criminals, so much so that from the other islands they were sent to Skopelos specifically to become a meal for the animal, thus eliminating the scum from the population. When San Riginos, bishop and spiritual guide of the island in the years to come, became aware of the situation, he decided to put an end to this disgrace by boarding a ship with the prisoners and reaching Skopelos.Having landed on the beach I uttered the words “Where is the mercy of God the dragon?”and I began to chase the animal, scaring it and pushing it towards the sea when, having reached a point where it could no longer escape, it made a leap into the Aegean which in the meantime split, forcing it to crash and die.Hence the Drakontochisma rock
We end with the legends and rumors with the Adrina beach history . Among the Panormos woods towards Milia beach is the area of Adrina with delightful coves surrounded by maritime pines. It takes its name from the bloodthirsty Saracen pirate Adriana. The only female corsair capable of spreading terror throughout the North Aegean, during one of her raids she came across a Venetian ship, stealing all its priceless treasures. Sailing towards Skopelos, however, her companions and her beloved attempted to plunder the island but were defeated in battle, losing their lives. As soon as Adriana learned of the death of her lover and her companions, she hid the treasure well and forever and out of desperation, she climbed onto a rock and committed suicide.
These stories always leave an aura of mystery around them, they may be true, it's pure fantasy who can say, but on the other hand they manage to make the imagination gallop and catapult us into a parallel universe made up of myths, poignant stories or with happy endings. Definitely a good thing for our curiosity and desire to discover more and more the secrets and mysteries of Greece.