Sailing towards the Peloponnese: The Strophades Islands

Abstract

Having left Corfu, and while sailing through the Ionian Sea towards the Peloponnese, most of the pilgrims’ galleys would pass near the two small islets of the Strophades. Their location in the open sea on the main route connecting Venice to the Holy Land, as well as the wells of potable water that could be found at the larger one of them, made them a popular stopping point for the ships travelling through the Ionian (Fig. 37). Built on the larger island of Stamfani, the monastery of the Virgin provided an additional reason for ships carrying religious travellers to dock at its port; the Virgin of Strophades was highly venerated by the seafarers, who integrated it into their holy sailing topography, as expressed in the Santa Parola litany.2 The site is of a peculiar nature. It is not exactly a port, nor a town, nor even a settlement, and not exactly a monastery. It is a strong fortress housing a monastery, built on the shore of a small islet, on what can be described as a little natural docking point (Fig. 38). The fortified monastery was manned – at least during the time frame of this study – by a cenobitic community of Greek Orthodox monks. Thus, conceptually, visually and geographically, it is a liminal space, on the borders between land and sea and between the earthly and heavenly dimension.