Anastasia Balezdrova
The Christian feast of Epiphany was celebrated with water blessing in the central Kolonaki district in Athens. Shortly after 10:30 the new mayor of Athens George Kaminis accompanied by military and municipal police representatives and in the sounds of the police brass band climbed the stairs to the Deksamenis Square where the people expected the divine liturgy to begin.
During the ceremony the waters of the covered basin located there were blessed. The priest immersed the Cross, which was tied with a ribbon in white and blue - the colours of the Greek flag – in the water. In contrast to the customs in which young people dive into the water to take the Cross and "win" the blessing, the mayor took the ribbon and pulled the Cross out. Then, the Cross was immersed again and this time it was pulled by the Vice Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who was the official government representative at the ceremony. The small front yard at the basin was full of chanters, politicians and journalists. The attending citizens were outside the enclosure and it was difficult for them to watch the ritual.
The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Labour Anna Dallara, the former Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos and the New Democracy government spokesman Evangelos Andonaros and the member of the far-right party LAOS Athanasios Plevris.
After the ceremony, Mayor George Kaminis made wishes for the New Year, stressing that 2011 will be difficult. "But all together we will make this big step that is needed to take our country out of the crisis. Let us place it on the international scene as well as it deserves with courage and confidence," he said. The citizens attending the ceremony that were hardly able to have a glimpse of it greeted and shook hands with politicians, and then headed to the church of St. Dionysius Areopagit in the sound of brass music. Municipal police in official uniforms led the procession. They were followed by the police band, soldiers division, and the priests bearing the Cross and the icons, and then followed the residents of downtown Athens. Priests blessed the people at the entrance of the temple and sprinkled them with holy water.
The official blessing of waters in Athens is held traditionally in the basin of Hadrian, which is filled especially for this occasion. It was built by the Roman emperor in 134-140 AD. Aqueduct started from the Parnita Mountain and reached to the Likavitos hill. The basin is located in its west side and 136 metres altitude. There started the water-mains that carried water to Athens.
The basin of Hadrian supplied the city with water until the era of Ottoman rule. Then it was abandoned, resulting in destroyed and plugged up aqueduct walls. Then, again, Athenians began to use water from wells. The aqueduct was restored in 1827 at the initiative of the Athens municipality and started to operate again in 1840. It supplied the Greek capital with water again for over a century. The water basin was opened in 1870 and it was then covered with a new dome, because the old was ruined. The original reservoir had a capacity of 400 cubic meters of water and resembled a bowl carved into the rock. Almost nothing of the tall Ionic pillars and rich marble decoration of the façade is left today.
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