The village at the foot of a volcano and the history of the church
One characteristic with churches and temples in Greece is that you can find them in the most strange places, in caves, next to the wave even perched on rocks. This is also the case with a temple in Evia. It is the only temple in Greece built on a volcanoWe are talking about Panagia Oxylithiotissa on the volcano of Turla.
Oxylithos is a village in Evia built at an altitude of 190 meters, and it’s the second-largest village in the Municipal Unit of Kimi, next to Kimi. There, you will meet fewer than 1000 inhabitants. Today it belongs to the Municipality of Kimi-Aliveri. It is about 10 km from Kimi. What most people ignore, however, is that the village is built at the foot of an inactive volcano.
The village took its name from the words “Sharp – Stone” i.e. from the pointy stone that exists at the top of Oxylith which is the inactive volcano. It is the most obvious remnant of a volcano in the wider Aegean-Sea region.
The only temple in Greece located on a volcano
Which is its name and where is this special church of the village? Well, it’s on a volcano. The story is as follows: 200 years ago the inhabitants of the village raised the picturesque Church of Panagia Oxylithiotissa, carrying the stones with their hands.
The aim of its building was their protection and the “embracement” of the land and the sea that lies in front of it. The church is actually built on the rocks of Tourla. It is the volcano on which this unique temple has stood in Greece for many years.
It is the only temple, in Greece, that is built on a volcano, the rocks of which are said to have been created 11 million years ago. Along the hilly range, there are sources of small to medium recesses with water of an excellent quality that supplied Oxylithos from 1929 to 1980.
