The Isle of Patmos

Patmos, one of the Dodecanese Islands, is known as the Jerusalem of the Aegean. It is the island where St. John the Divine was exiled and where he penned the apocalyptic book of Revelations. The small island is only 13 square miles with a population of about 3,000.

St. John arrived on Patmos in 95 AD after his exile from Ephesus, and the Monastery of St. John, one of the major sites on the island, was founded in 1088. Ship-building and trade brought about the decline of monastic control.

The cruise ship will dock at Skala, the main city and port for Patmos sheltered by a wide bay. From Skala, an old cobbled path leads up to the Monastery of St. John near the small village of Chora. It is a fairly strenuous up-hill walk to the monastery, but the panoramic views are beautiful from here.

Chora boasts over 40 Byzantine monasteries and chapels, many with distinct window moldings, or mantomata, decorated with a Byzantine cross. The village is a maze of twisting alleyways, many of which lead to the doorways of large sea captains’ mansions, or archontika, built to keep marauding pirates at bay.

Down the path to Skala is the Agia Anna church built in 1090 dedicated to the mother of the Virgin Mary. Inside the church is the Holy Cave of the Apocalypse, also called the Grotto of the Apocalypse. Here is the silver-lined rock where St. John dictated the Book of Revelation to his disciple Prochoros and the indentation in the rock where the author rested his head.

Here also is the crack in the ceiling of the cave where it is said that St. John heard the voice of God. Its three parts symbolize the Trinity.

The stop in Patmos is only an afternoon, 3 to 4 hours, so the stay is not long. Visitors wearing shorts are not allowed in the monastery or grotto. Female visitors must wear clothing that covers the shoulders.