• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

Orthodox churches and trees

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes

prodromos

Senior Veteran
Site Supporter
Nov 28, 2003
23,622
14,041
59
Sydney, Straya
✟1,409,940.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
My son has just spent a few days away at Sunday School camp where he learned about St Theodora Basta and in particular the church which honours her in Arkadia, Greece.

The church has 17 trees growing from the roof with no sign of any roots!




Inside the church


There are also some short clips on youtube
St Theodora Basta church. - YouTube
 

Attachments

  • Saint Theodora outside.jpg
    204.2 KB · Views: 1,120
  • Saint Theodora outside 2.jpg
    150.9 KB · Views: 942
  • Saint Theodora inside.jpg
    288.8 KB · Views: 802
Last edited:

prodromos

Senior Veteran
Site Supporter
Nov 28, 2003
23,622
14,041
59
Sydney, Straya
✟1,409,940.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Anyway, when he told us about this church, it reminded us of another church in the village of Samarina (highest village in Greece) where the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos has a pine tree growing from the roof of the sanctuary, again with no roots.






There is a short video showing inside the sanctuary at the following link. Its all in Greek I'm afraid.
Holy Temple of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Samarina, Grevena

Has anyone else come across Orthodox churches which defy nature in some way?
 

Attachments

  • Samarina1.jpg
    190.3 KB · Views: 919
  • Samarina2.jpg
    62.6 KB · Views: 776
  • Samarina5.jpg
    15.8 KB · Views: 742
Upvote 0

Gxg (G²)

Pilgrim/Monastic on the Road to God (Psalm 84:1-7)
Site Supporter
Jan 25, 2009
19,765
1,429
Good Ol' South...
Visit site
✟187,250.00
Faith
Oriental Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
Politics
US-Others


Beautiful pics - the trees remind me of the following:
Psalm 52:8
“Here is the man who did not make God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it is good.
Psalm 52:7-9

​
But on your question, the Church of St. Theodora was the only one I could think of with outside of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

prodromos

Senior Veteran
Site Supporter
Nov 28, 2003
23,622
14,041
59
Sydney, Straya
✟1,409,940.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
At the monastery of St John the Forerunner near Veroia (Berea), a massive boulder had broken from the cliff face and fallen a few metres onto the roof of one of their chapels.

It bounced off the roof and came to rest beside the chapel!
 
Upvote 0

Gxg (G²)

Pilgrim/Monastic on the Road to God (Psalm 84:1-7)
Site Supporter
Jan 25, 2009
19,765
1,429
Good Ol' South...
Visit site
✟187,250.00
Faith
Oriental Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
Politics
US-Others
Upvote 0

prodromos

Senior Veteran
Site Supporter
Nov 28, 2003
23,622
14,041
59
Sydney, Straya
✟1,409,940.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Wow, I can just imagine an ascetic monk living and praying in there. When I saw the video title, I had pictures of a small prefabricated chapel built in the branches of a tree in my head. Then I watched, and as G-squared so aptly put it, Mind=blown!
 
Upvote 0

prodromos

Senior Veteran
Site Supporter
Nov 28, 2003
23,622
14,041
59
Sydney, Straya
✟1,409,940.00
Country
Australia
Gender
Male
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Cogent said:
Does anyone know what type of trees were growing out of the church in Arkadia? Just curious...
Click to expand...
Britannica says there are patches of oak forests in the area and no olive trees.
A further search found a study by University of Patra Vastas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Its still incredible
 
Upvote 0

Gxg (G²)

Pilgrim/Monastic on the Road to God (Psalm 84:1-7)
Site Supporter
Jan 25, 2009
19,765
1,429
Good Ol' South...
Visit site
✟187,250.00
Faith
Oriental Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
Politics
US-Others
prodromos said:
Wow, I can just imagine an ascetic monk living and praying in there. When I saw the video title, I had pictures of a small prefabricated chapel built in the branches of a tree in my head. Then I watched, and as G-squared so aptly put it, Mind=blown!
Click to expand...
Sometimes you wonder what the Lord thought on the issue before it manifested into our realm of existence - as in how he intended for it to be seen...
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A Though on St Olga of Kwethluk
Replies
4
Views
460
The Ancient Way - Eastern Orthodox
Lukaris
The Harm Caused by Excessive Criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and Other Denominations
Replies
230
Views
6K
Denomination Specific Theology
The Liturgist
Evidence of recent veneration of St. Severus of Antioch in the Armenian Church
Replies
1
Views
377
Denomination Specific Theology
prodromos
(Orthodoxy) Salvation of the soul. The meaning of life.
Replies
11
Views
932
The Ancient Way - Eastern Orthodox
ArmyMatt
Answering a liturgical question from OBOB
Replies
0
Views
457
Traditional Theology
The Liturgist
Menu
Log in
Register