Icon of Virgin Mary Myrtidiotissa

Icon of Virgin Mary Myrtidiotissa. Icon wooden asymmetrical carved silkscreen on canvas.

The Virgin Mary Myrtidiotissa is one of the most beloved icons of our Virgin Mary and is of particular importance to the inhabitants of the island of Kythera.

It is a very old icon – according to some experts it dates back to the 1st Century AD and has been described by the Evangelist Luke – which has been in Kythera for literally hundreds of years and has been associated with special ties with its inhabitants.

This icon arrived in Kythera in a miraculous way. Specifically, a shepherd is said to have found it in the sea. The area in which the icon was found had many myrtle trees and was known as Myrtidia.

Because the icon was found in that area, it became known as Panagia Myrtidiotissa.

According to written and oral testimonies, when the icon was found, its colours were very intense and one could discern many small details in the form of the Virgin and the Divine Infant depicted in it. Over time, however, the colours began to “blacken” and the vivid details once seen by its pilgrims were lost.

The shepherd who found the icon built a small chapel near the place where it was found, in which he kept the icon.

After the death of the shepherd, a monk named Leontios expanded the chapel and built some cells for the pilgrims, but these soon proved to be inadequate as more and more believers flocked to the area.

In 1841, the monk Agathangelos Kalligeros began the construction of a large church in the area, which was completed 16 years later.

The poor inhabitants of Kythera loved the icon so much that they raised money and commissioned the artist Nikolaos Spithakis from Crete to create a gold lining for the icon, which was placed in 1837.

This investment is of unique artistic beauty and value. It depicts three miracles: the first is the finding of the icon by Bosco, the second is the healing of a paralytic and the third is the rescue of the island’s fortress from a great storm with many thunderbolts.

This event took place in 1829. But what is truly unique about this investment is a jewel in the shape of a crescent moon, accompanied by the inscription “In eternal memory of the miracle of the solution of the drought”.

It is said that once upon a time during the Ottoman occupation, the island suffered from drought and drought, which of course caused great concern to its inhabitants.

One day during this drought, a wealthy Muslim nobleman based in Crete happened to be on the island and saw a lot of activity outside the island’s Cathedral.

When he asked to know what was happening, they replied that they had brought the icon of Panagia Myrtidiotissa from her church to make a procession so that rain would fall and save the island from water scarcity.

When the Muslim heard this, he noticed the blue sky and the blazing sun and laughed, saying that if even one drop of rain fell, he would give the icon of the Virgin Mary a gift of his very expensive jewellery, which was in the form of a crescent moon.

After the procession, the heavens “opened” on the island and a very heavy rain broke out. The Muslim was surprised and honoured his promise. The jewel he donated remains on the icon to this day since it became part of its gold plating.

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