If you have been thinking about a mid-term break in Santorini, then you are probably expecting the leisurely pace of life, the pretty old main town with its whitewashed buildings and blue domes, the stunning sunsets over the sea that are taken in daily by wowed crowds of tourists, days spent by the sea and on boats, delicious local foods, cute little boutiques, and other such charms. However, if you find a vacation rental in Greece and head there in the next few weeks, you might be glad to find out that it has an appropriately spooky past that perfectly suits this time of year, in the run up to Hallowe’en.
Santorini actually once had the reputation of being the most vampire-infested place in the world and is steeped in legends of ghosts, ghouls, and other creepy creatures. The biggest concern among these shadowy figures was the dreaded Vrykolakas, or Vyrkolatios, a type of vampire. These creatures were said to have been born when babies were stillborn or people died without receiving their final rites, if a person was conceived or born on a Holy Day (which was considered a great blasphemy), if someone ate the meat of an animal that had been accidentally killed or not properly slaughtered, if a person didn’t have a proper burial, if someone died who had had a sinful life, if a body was passed over by an animal before burial, if a person was killed by a vampire, and in many other circumstances.
Santorini actually once had the reputation of being the most vampire-infested place in the world and is steeped in legends of ghosts, ghouls, and other creepy creatures. The biggest concern among these shadowy figures was the dreaded Vrykolakas, or Vyrkolatios, a type of vampire. These creatures were said to have been born when babies were stillborn or people died without receiving their final rites, if a person was conceived or born on a Holy Day (which was considered a great blasphemy), if someone ate the meat of an animal that had been accidentally killed or not properly slaughtered, if a person didn’t have a proper burial, if someone died who had had a sinful life, if a body was passed over by an animal before burial, if a person was killed by a vampire, and in many other circumstances.
These guidelines leave lots of room for plenty of vampires to be born so it is no surprise that the island was supposedly infested! Luckily, however, the inhabitants of Santorini were also thought to have been the leading experts on fighting vampires too and people are said to have captured “vampires” and to have brought them to the island to be dealt with. The vampire hunters of Santorini had a lot on their plates as Vrykolakas were not only deadly, like the vampires most of us are familiar with, but they were also thought to be mischievous and got up to all sorts of horrifying and sometimes silly antics; sitting on and crushing sleeping victims, pulling on bedclothes as people slept, eating all the food and wine in homes, mocking people or throwing stones at them on their way to church, and much more besides. To defeat them, they had to be decapitated or impaled on a spike and some thought that only a man of the church was up to the job.
Travellers throughout the centuries have spread tales of the myths of the vampires that they heard while on the island – with Montague Summers, who visited the island in 1906-1907, and Paul Lucas in 1705 – and if you want to see if you can spot these undead pranksters for yourself then you should get planning a trip to Greece ASAP.
Travellers throughout the centuries have spread tales of the myths of the vampires that they heard while on the island – with Montague Summers, who visited the island in 1906-1907, and Paul Lucas in 1705 – and if you want to see if you can spot these undead pranksters for yourself then you should get planning a trip to Greece ASAP.