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Chios today honors Saint Markella, Patroness of the islandtranslated

July 22, 2026 · 1 min read

On July 22nd, Chios honors the Patroness of the island, Agia Markella, the Parthenomartyr, Chiopolitida. Agia Markella is a Saint of the Orthodox Church and the patron saint of Chios. He was born and lived during the fourteenth century in Volissos, Chios. She was raised as a Christian by her mother even though her father was a pagan. At a young age, her mother died and Markella continued to study the New Testament, pray to God and live a life according to what he had taught her. About her eighteenth birthday, her father forced her very cruelly and by threats to become a heathen.

Frightened, she fled to the nearby mountains and hid in a bush. Her father found her, with the help of a shepherd, and set fire to the bush to force her to appear.

Markella ran into the sea to save herself but her father took aim at her with his bow and wounded her with an arrow. The Saint's blood stained the rocks and on this day, her feast day, her blood becomes visible on these rocks. When she was injured, she prayed to Jesus Christ to hide her.

A rock opened and hid her body…

Source: Orthodoxia News Agency · Read the full story →

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Mihai Barbu

I heard about this story from a friend who was on a pilgrimage to Chios. I found it very concrete how her father set fire to the bush and how she ran to the sea - I can see the scene. Is that stone that opened still visible today by the pilgrims who go there?

Marius Matei

Yes, that stone is still visible today, I read that the pilgrims are looking for it in the exact place where it ran to the sea, near Volissos. Your friend got the details of the fire and the running well - I found it most painful how her father used a shepherd to find her. Have you ever been there?