Nikos Déjà Vu: Nikos Deja Vu - Rouketopolemos: An amazing Easter Tradition at Chios Island, Greece

Rouketopolemos:
An amazing Easter Tradition
at Chios Island, Greece

Here is the footage video
(Greek Orthodox Easter)

Rouketopolemos
(Rocket War)

THE STORY

Greek Easter is known affectionately for many of its uniquely elaborate and historic traditions, whether they are eggs dyed blood red or a lamb roasting on your front lawn. But why stop at eggs and lamb? At many Greek Orthodox Churches, following the midnight Anastasi Service, fireworks are frequently set off along with the ringing of church bells to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection.
Rouketopolemos[Рουκετοπόλεμος] in Greek and it takes place between two rival churches: Agios Markos and Panagia Erithiani. The churches sit opposite one another on opposing sides of a valley. The two sides fire tens of thousands of homemade rockets across the valley at the other church. The object is to hit the bell tower of the opposing church.
While this war is being waged, the midnight liturgy is still performed inside each church amid all of the action. The origin of the tradition is not specifically known, though several local legends tell the story. Some say that under the Ottoman Turkish occupation in the 19th Century, the island’s sailors would fire cannons into the air to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. Fearing the locals would use the cannons to revolt the Turks took them away, and the locals replaced them with their homemade rockets. Another version says the locals fired the rockets at each other’s churches to create a diversion of sorts to keep the Turks away, allowing the faithful to attend the Easter services. The locals work to make the thousands of rockets throughout the year until they are ready to whiz through the air and ready them for the battle.
The church buildings as well as many of the surrounding buildings of the village are wrapped in wire mesh caging and protected by being boarded up with metal sheets to minimize the collateral damage that accompanies this yearly spectacle. In addition to a lot of chipped plaster, as well as the usual injuries surrounding fireworks, stray rockets that miss the church cause small brush fires—which the fire department must quickly extinguish. Each side claims victory from hitting the other church’s bell tower, but they agree to settle it next year continuing the tradition another year.
With countless traditions surrounding the celebration of Greek Easter, the historic Rocket War of Vrontados on the Aegean island of Chios surely ranks as one of the most unique to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is quite the spectacle to behold.

OTHER RESOURCES

Rouketopolemos (Greek Ρουκετοπόλεμος, literally Rocket-War) is the name of a local traditional event held annually at the Greek Orthodox Easter in the city of Vrontados (Βροντάδος) on the Greek island of Chios.
As a variation of the Greek habit of throwing fireworks during the celebration of the service at midnight before Easter Sunday, two rival church congregations in the town perform an Rocket War by firing thousands of rockets across the town, with the objective of hitting the bell tower of the church of the other side.
It is difficult to know how and when this tradition started in Vrontados. Today there are many different versions of the story. I will tell you two of them.
The first version tells a story that this comes from the 19th century, when the Ottoman occupiers confiscated the canon over fear they would be used in a uprising. So locals resorted to fire rockets instead. This became the traditional annual Rocket War.
The second story states that this tradition was born during the Ottoman occupation. People from the island were prohibited to celebrate Easter the way they were used to. The people from the churches of San Maria and San Marco decided to have a fake war with rockets to keep the Ottomans away. Indeed, the Ottomans were frightened by the sudden violence. They kept a safe distance while the rockets were fired. In the meantime, the communities could celebrate Jesus’ resurrection in the churches.

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