An ancient rite involving … fire-walking was again celebrated last week in a handful of villages οf northern Greece.
Considered by some as a pagan custom carried into the Christian era, the fire-walking commemoration is held every May 21, which coincides with the feast day of Sts. Constantine and Helen.
Daring (or fool-hardy) participants braved the burning coals in the villages of Kerkini (Serres prefecture), Langada (Thessaloniki), in the border Evros prefecture to the east and in at least one village in Drama prefecture.
The custom was carried by ethnic Greeks fleeing from eastern Thrace in 1923, and specifically from the village of Kosti , located today in modern-day extreme southeastern Bulgaria.
According to legend, when the village cathedral (dedicated to Sts. Constantine and Helen) caught on fire, several residents rushed into the burning church in an attempt to save the icons and other ecclesiastical heirlooms. A miracle was cited by the village residents when none of the people who entered the burning church was harmed.
Nevertheless, the official Greek Orthodox Church today takes a dim view of the fire-walking festivals, pointing instead to a remnant from the idolatrous antiquity.

photos by Kon. Tsakalidis / SO OC