Deisidaimonia in Small-Town Greece
I published a blog on the travels of the Apostle Paul as they intersected with our travels in Greece. In that posting, I told the story of how Paul, on his way into the city of Athens, was bothered by seeing all the “idols” along the side of the road. He used a version of the Greek word δεισιδαιμονία (deisidaimonia) which can mean, “god-fearing” or in a negative sense, “superstitious.”
I am by no means an expert on the theology of the Greek Orthodox Church. I am just impressed by the ubiquitous faith and piety we found everywhere in Greece. On a bus from downtown Thessaloniki to the airport, the teenage girl sitting near me (dressed for the club) crossed herself every time the bus passed a church.
And as Amy and I drove into the little town of Kavousi in the eastern Crete, I was struck–not bothered like Paul, but amazed and impressed—by the signs pointing to a multiplicity of churches in this tiny town.
In 2021, Kavousi boasted a population of 529 people, and I counted 20 churches within a 1-mile radius.
We came to Kavousi for the second time in two years because Amy worked here on an archaological dig in 1990. We chose to spend the last of our eight weeks in Kavousi, hiking and taking road-trips around eastern Crete, which I have never seen. We got a luxurious AirB&B that came complete with some friendly cats.
Back to the churches. All are Christian churches, Greek Orthodox churches. Each is named after something prominent in Orthodox Christianity. Some of these eponyms were familiar to me (an Episcopalian) and Amy (a Roman Catholic). Some were not, and I had to look them up. Let’s go through the list, by category, and learn a little Greek and a little Church History in the process!