CANDLEMAKING WORKSHOP

In the Monastery of Agia Moni, Kythera, a centre of meditation and cultural heritage, in a prominent location overlooking the Myrtoan Sea, we made candles in the traditional way, defending a vanishing craft (wax-making). Father Giorgis Adikimenakis, a worthy and romantic guardian of tradition, still insists today on making candles in his traditional wax-making workshop and supplying them to the sacred temples of Kythera. His appreciation for natural beeswax is more than obvious. As he emphasises: "The difference between beeswax and paraffin is that when a paraffin candle burns, the melting causes the candle to distort, become unstable and fall over, while natural beeswax melts vertically thus leaving the candle even".

First, we melted the beeswax combs donated by local beekeepers in a tank. The melted and filtered wax mass, which is the raw material, was cast into a cylindrical mould, known as 'tipari'. Using a makeshift yarn spinner, Father Giorgis proudly winded cotton thread on metal frames and weaved the wicks. We then placed the woven frames in a makeshift wax dipping machine and the wax from the tipari in a cauldron (vat), where the wax melted and remained liquid during our work. The machine rotated like a mill and immersed (dipped) the frames in the vat with the melted wax. The wax, within a short time, solidified on the cotton threads. The machine dipped the frames in the melted wax several times, until the candles acquired the desired thickness. With this manual method, Father Giorgis has the ability to make 1500 candles within an hour!

According to Father Giorgis: "The beeswax of Kythera was superior to beeswax from other regions and was in great demand, as it was considered purer." In fact, he retrieves from his archive and reads for us a relevant request from Constantinople for the supply of pure Kytherian wax, dated February 28th 1903. The concept of the supreme purity of Kytherian beeswax in times when nature was virgin and unpolluted everywhere should not be interpreted in environmental terms, but rather in terms of holiness, spiritual aura and religious faith. There were thousands of beehives on Kythera and from them they extracted the internationally famous and sought-after Kytherian honey. Furthermore, because the wax is produced by virgin bees, the beehives were considered sacred, as protected by Virgin Mary and the wax was intended for pilgrimages as an offering to Virgin Mary. The church was rebuilt on the occasion of the discovery of an icon of Virgin Mary by a shepherd in 1767 at this location with the inscription "The only hope of all" and is dedicated to the mother of Jesus.

This activity has been implemented as part of the action 

TRADITIONAL BEEKEEPING IN MOVABLE-COMB HIVES (ATTICA & KYTHERA)

With financial support and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture

The BEELOSOPHY team were provided with accommodation at The Windmill Resort and at Kythira Golden Resort and travelled in a car placed at their disposal by Panayiotis Rent a Car.

The Windmill Resort (Mitata, Kythera, T.: 2736 031029, www.thewindmillresort.com)

Kythira Golden Resort (Diakofti, Kythera, T.: 2736 033407, kythiragoldenresort.gr)

Panayiotis Rent a Car (Airport, Kythera, T.: 6973957306, panayotis-rent-a-car.gr)