After terrorizing his village, the vampire Vrykolakas from Patmos, Santorini, was taken to an inhabited island and set on fire. The question is, did it really work?
Perhaps shining Santorini isn't a place people would think vampire-like creatures roamed, although history says otherwise.
From the text of a French priest we have some of the oldest documented written stories about the vampire Vrykolaki from Greek folklore. One of them is the story of a merchant from Patmos, called Patino.
Merchant from Patmos
The story was given to a Jesuit priest by the abbot of the Greek Orthodox monastery of Amourgo on an island near Patmos, Santorini, where the story takes place.
A merchant from Patmos named Patino went on a business trip to Anatolia, a peninsula in Western Asia that today constitutes mainly the landmass of Turkey. He died during his stay, although the sources do not say why. They placed him in a coffin and prepared him for transport home for the funeral. As he was being carried onto the boat, one of the ship's sailors was placed on it and claimed he felt something move in the coffin.
He persuaded the other sailors to lift the lid of the coffin and check that his body was perfectly preserved, with no signs of decomposition. However, it is not known how much time has passed since his death. According to the story, the sailors did not tell his wife what they saw when they returned her husband.
A merchant returning as Vrykolaka
According to this story, his wife had him buried with full honors, so his transformation was not due to improper burial, as many vampire stories mention. He started appearing in nearby houses, brutally attacking people and causing damage. Fifteen people are said to have died from beatings or simply from pure terror.
Prayers and exorcisms were unsuccessful in stopping the hauntings. Patino's body was ordered to be sent back to Natolia, but the completely terrified sailors transporting it stopped at the first island they passed and burned it, ending the phenomenon.
The same Jesuit priest notes elsewhere in his writings that vrykolaki were widely believed to be unable to cross salt water on their own and were often sent to uninhabited islands. Much like on the island of Amourgo, where they are said to often roam freely in groups of five or six, feeding on raw green beans. Who knows, maybe someone is still wandering the shining islands around Santorini?
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The vampire Vrykolakas in Patmos
After terrorizing his village, the vampire Vrykolakas from Patmos, Santorini, was taken to an inhabited island and set on fire. The question is, did it really work?
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Vampirologists. Franciszek Ryszard
By Light Unseen – Vampires in media and culture
Greek accounts of the Vrykolaki
Image Source: Pixabay.com
