Chios Missile War

The rocket war (Rouketopolemos, Greek Рουκετοπόλεμος) in Vrontados ( Greek Βροντάδος) on the island of Chios is a ritual event in which two rival parishes bombard their church buildings with fireworks on the night of Orthodox Easter Sunday .

The two church buildings, "Agios Markos" and "Panagia Erithiani", sit exactly opposite on the opposite side of the village valley, about 400 meters apart. Every year around 60,000 hand-made fireworks rockets are thrown across the valley onto the church building opposite on the night of Easter Sunday. The aim of the Rouketopolemos is to hit the bell tower of the church opposite.

The two groups that produce the rockets call themselves “Synergia” (Greek Συνεργεία). The production of the handmade rockets is very time-consuming and starts shortly after Easter .

Preparations on Holy Saturday

The "Synergia" already start to deploy the rocket detonators on the morning of Holy Saturday and start to detonate test missiles during the day to identify their target. A horn sound is used to warn of each attack. There is a short break at 10:30 p.m. so that the faithful can attend the service . At 11 p.m., when the church bells call for the service of the resurrection , the rouketopolemos is officially started.

On Easter Sunday, the rocket launchers visit the opposing community and start counting the damage. None of the rival parishes admit defeat, so there is never a loser in the Vrontados missile war. "Even if we have fought, there will be no malice between us. The next day we made peace again." with this rhyme peace is made between the parishes.

origin

The exact origin of the custom is unclear. According to local tradition , the Easter ritual dates back to the 19th century during the Ottoman rule. A regional tradition says that the Ottoman occupying power had forbidden the inhabitants to celebrate Easter, whereupon the parishes faked a war by firing rockets at each other , which terrified the Turkish occupiers and they withdrew.

The custom was forgotten during the German occupation, as there were only a few fireworks rockets at the time. During the first years of the Greek dictatorship the custom was completely abandoned and did not start again until 1970. Since then the custom has been celebrated every year. In 2018, however, the rocket fire was officially banned shortly before it began, so only a few rockets were detonated.

Chios Missile War

Preparations on Holy Saturday

origin

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