''Rouketopolemos'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''Рουκετοπόλεμος'', literally "rocket war") is a local traditional event held annually at

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...

in the town of

Vrontados Vrontados ( el, Βροντάδος) is a small coastal town located at the eastern part of the island of Chios in Greece. With a population of about 5,300 the town hosts the seat of the municipality of Omiroupoli. Information The town has a st ...

(Βροντάδος) on the Greek island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mast ...

. As a variation of the Greek custom of throwing fireworks during the celebration of the service at midnight before

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

, two rival church congregations in the town perform a "rocket war" by firing tens of thousands of home-made rockets across town, with the objective of hitting the bell tower of the church of the other side. The rockets are wooden sticks loaded with a propellant mixture containing gunpowder, and are launched from grooved platforms.

Background

The two rival parishes are ''St. Mark''s and ''Panaghia Ereithiani'', the respective churches built on two hilltops about 400 meters away from each other. Direct hits on each belfry are supposedly counted on the next day to determine the winner, but each parish invariably claims victory over the other. The result of this apparent disagreement is that both parishes agree to settle the score next year, and the rivalry is thus perpetuated. The church buildings themselves and the nearby buildings have to be extensively boarded up and protected with metal sheets and mesh for the occasion. Several Vrontadites regularly express their dismay at the explosive nature of the custom, but it is a source of significant tourist revenue for the area. The origin of this event is unclear, but local tradition holds that it goes back to the Ottoman era. According to local lore it was earlier performed with real cannons, until Ottoman authorities prohibited their use in 1889. Potential visitors should note that the event is held on Orthodox Easter Day (as defined by the Julian calendar) which falls later in the year than the Easter dates commonly used in the West.

Chronology

The event was temporarily cancelled in 2016, due to complaints by residents for property damage, but was restored in 2017, with limitations on the duration and number of rockets launched.

References

On the tradition of Rouketopolomos
Local Newspaper of Vrontados "Omiroupoli" ]
Local tourism website (in Greek)BBC reportVrontados rocket-war coverage
by

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{{Easter Easter traditions in Greece Chios Greek culture Annual events in Greece Fireworks events in Europe Festivals in Greece Spring (season) events in Greece

Background

Chronology

See also

References