Copyright (2016) Stephen Trifyllis

 For  all those  who  will be in kythera late august , there is a church service that perhaps many of you dont know about , the church services are held at     . PALIOCHORA... in a very old church called '' e kerrea tou fouro '' [ lady of the tax ] unusual name for a church but thats another  story , the services that are held there are the memorial services for the 9 days of the falling asleep of the mary .... they are held in  perhaps one of the most significent fotress's  on the island ... paliochora.... a place of dwellings for kytherians some 600 years ago to protect themselves from the turkish pirates that attacked  kythera and other parts of greece ,for many of us its the place where we have our family beginnings , these church services have been held in late august in paliochora for hundreds of years in the same church which is in remarkable good condition , but unfortunently as the years go by the attendaces have ben getting smaller and smaller ,!!  it is  now up to this current geneartion of the island vistotrs to attend so as not for this special day of worship not to completely   disappear  , it would be a shame for these services to cease  , as our ancestors would have gone to these services, as i keep saying, kythera is not only for sitting in platias gossiping , going to beach parties , making movies , going to bars and drinking the night away , we must protect the culture of our island as much as possible , and you dont have to be religious to attend although they are very moving ceremonies  , it is also a great opportunity  to explore the magnificent fortress, the  other churches  and ruins of this  spectacular fortess of kythera ...if you havent been to paliochora  this is a perfect way of seeing kytherian history and help save a wonderful church service , after the morning service a morning coffee and the best kytherian sweets are served outside the church and people can mingle and meet new people from kythera and other countries and discover more about the island .....PLEASE SUPPORT OUR   CULTURE...  and honour our past ,  our relations attended  these smaller type church services in the various  villages around the island !!  the dates for the paliochora 9 days   mary services are .... the evening of the 23rd august  around 7pm.... and the morning service on the 24th august commencing around 8am .... if you neeed more information you  can call me ...0412 729927... hope to see you there ... xpona polla ....