Feast of the Cross in Donoussa

Η I was shaking is the most inaccessible island of Small Cyclades  even though it is only 8 nautical miles from Naxos and 14 from Katapola of Amorgos. And that's because the Ikarian sea ends here and the place is always between the winds and the bophoria. THE I was shaking it is a paradise for those who really want to live a quiet holiday, enjoy the beautiful beaches and meet its hospitable inhabitants. It is no coincidence that Donoussa has her fanatical followers who cannot live a year without her energy.

The Feast of the Cross (takes place on the eve of the feast) is the most important festival of the island - The town of the island is called Stavros - and outside the locals many faithful celebrants, despite the fact that the date falls outside the summer season, 14 Σεπτεμβρίου, come from all the surrounding islands to celebrate. Especially when in recent years at the festival sings Nikos Economidis, the favorite composer-singer-reveler of the Cyclades.

Η Church of the Cross with the indigo dome, it has a beautiful bell tower and every year on the eve of the festival the women of the village with their children decorate the images of the temple with flowers – basil, jasmine, ginseng, white carnations – while the men carry the bread from the unique bakery on the island as they burn anise, cinnamon, cloves, mastic and machete. In the adjacent Spiritual Center -sponsored by the shipowner Thanasis Martinou - food is cooked in cauldrons for around five hundred nomads, under the supervision of Michael Prasinos who has lived in Melbourne for years and comes every year especially for the festival.

After Vespers, people go to the Cultural Center where they drink wine and eat braised goat with potatoes and then go down to the pier where the instruments await them. The dances will last until the morning hours.

Weather permitting, they will definitely come from Koufonisia, but also the surrounding islands, believers of the festival who arrive by boat to celebrate and celebrate the holiday.