The Mayor of Kythera Mr. Efstratios Harhalakis, accompanied by the General Secretary of the Municipality Mrs. Efrosini Kasimatis and the President of the Employees' Association Mrs. Polyxeni Alezidou, visited Kastelli Kissamos Chania, the weekend 11 and 12 December, participating in the festivities in honor of the Patron Saint Spyridon, at the kind invitation of the Mayor of Kissamos Mr. George Mylonakis and His Eminence Metropolitan of Kissamos and Selino Mr. Amphilochios.
At noon of 12of December, after the solemn archpriestly mass in the historic church of St. Spyridon, took place at the Municipality of Kissamos, the 2η phase of the twinning ceremony of the Municipalities of Kissamos and Kythera, which started in September 2021 in Antikythera. The event was honored with the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports Mrs. Lina Mendoni, the Member of Parliament of the Southwest and former Deputy Minister of Education Mr. Vassilis Digalakis, the Bishops of Kissamos and Selinou Mr. Amphilochios, Gortys and Arcadia Mr. Makarios, Kydonia and Apokoronas Damaskinos, Ierapytni and Sitia Kirillos, the Mayors of Chania Panagiotis Simandirakis and Sfakia Manousos Hiotakis, local government officials from all over Crete, representatives of institutions and associations, and a large number of people.
The Mayor of Kissamos addressed the delegation of Kythera with warm words emphasizing the long-standing historical ties of the two regions. The Mayor of Kythera, arguing from the chest, mentioned specific historical points that connect Kissamos with Kythera and Antikythera, such as (indicatively) the inclusion of ancient Antikythera in the sphere of influence of Falassarna, the settlement of Cretan refugees in Kythera and Antikythera after 1669, but also after the Cretan revolutions of the 18th century.no century, the discovery of the Icon of St. Myronos in Antikythera and the systematic colonization of the island, the ordinations of Cretan priests in Kythera during the Venetian rule, etc. The Mayors and the Minister of Culture exchanged commemorative gifts and an official lunch followed at the «Tsatsaronakeio Cultural Centre» of the Holy Metropolis of Kissamos.
The strong and long-standing historical and cultural ties between Crete and Kythera, which were sealed with the twinning of the Municipalities of Kissamos and Kythera in 2021, will be the subject of a scientific conference to be held on our island next spring, on the occasion of the invitation extended by the Mayor of Kythera to the Mayor of Kissamos and his associates, to visit our island between 10 - 12 May 2023, in order to attend the celebration of the Patron Saint of Kythera, Saint Theodoros.
The Municipality of Kythera would like to thank the Municipality of Kissamos, the Mayor Mr. Georgios Mylonakis, the Metropolitan Mr. Amfilochios and their associates for the touching brotherly hospitality.
