On the Greek island of Tinos, there are a thousand chapels, one for ten of its inhabitants

Athens, September 16 - The Greek island of Tinos, which lies in the Aegean Sea, is literally dotted with chapels. There is one chapel for every ten inhabitants, the AP agency wrote. Tinos is also home to the main Marian pilgrimage site in Greece - an Orthodox church with an icon of the Virgin Mary, which, according to legend, has healing powers.

Some chapels on Tinos are built into the rock and goats run around them. Others are among olive groves or vineyards, and others are right next to houses in villages. They are mostly simple structures, often only the size of one room. Most are Orthodox, others are Catholic. And while some have chandeliers and an elaborate marble iconostasis, others do not even have electricity and only have a candle stand next to a single icon.

Most chapels on the island of Tinos are always open, with a supply of oil for candlesticks as well as sweets and bottled water for pilgrims. "It's as if they're expecting visitors," Nikos Levantis told the AP in the 200-year-old chapel his friend owns. The chapels on Tinos belong to people of both the older and younger generations, goat farmers and hotel owners, Orthodox Christians and Catholics. Everyone is proud of them, even those who are not religious. Whole families gather in them, once a year their walls are repainted or their roofs are repaired.

"I like coming here because it's a peaceful place to relax," said 26-year-old Jannis Kafantaris, reading a book at the chapel his family co-owns.

Tinos is part of the Cyclades archipelago and is a place of pilgrimage for Greeks, with some calling it the Aegean or Greek Lourdes, a reference to the French Lourdes, where Catholic pilgrims go in the hope of healing.

AP, foto: AP

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