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Agios Markos The Church of Agios Markos -
Panagia Erithiani by Night The Churches under Fire -
Vrontados The City of Vrontados -
Panagia Erithiani The Church Of Panagia Erithiani -
Rocketwar By Night The Fight In The Holy Night
Welcome to Rocketwar.com!
Welcome to the Rocket War website, which was created to show you a yearly spectacle that takes place on the island of Chios, Greece.
This website has been created specifically to document and capture this amazing event, in which over 60,000 rockets are fired from the residents of two opposing camps to each of the other's rival churches in the parishes of Saint Mark and Virgin Mary Erethianis.
WHERE DOES IT TAKE PLACE?
The Rocketwar Event takes place in the village of Vrontados, between the two churches Agios Markos and Panagia Erithiani.
See some pictures of this area!
- BBC- impression
- BELGIAN-VIEW
- ANOTHER-PERSPECTIVE
- FRENCH-IMPRESSION
Rocket InstrumentsRocket War From The Eyes of Europe
Residents admit that it is not the most safety conscious ceremony, but every Easter Sunday on the small Greek island of Chios a fireworks war breaks out between two rival parishes. In a bizarre but long-cherished local tradition, two Orthodox churches in the town of Vrodandos fire rockets at each other's churches - while services are held inside them.
Exploding rocketA Belgian Volunteer Describes The Event
Vrontados, a small town on a calm Aegean Sea. However this town has a peculiar habit. Every year on the evening before Easter the night sky gets lid up by thousands of flashes. This is the Rocket War. In Vrontados there are 2 churches, Agios Markos and Panagia Erithiani. In a very folkloristic manner rockets are being fired at those churches by the two competing communities of the village.
LightsSouth Side or North Side?
During the Rocket War, we went up the hill inside a half-built house. From there we had a tremendous view on the valley: we could see both churches and almost all the spots from where they launched the rockets:
Sparkling Shooting StarsThe Rocket War Seen by Aurélie
The goal of this war is for the teams to hit the opponent´s church, the bulls eye being Saint Markos bell's and Virgin Mary Erithianis´ clock. The first being the North and the latter one the South side. Every person present must choose a side and support one of the shooting teams.
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