Tinos is one of the islands of the famous Cyclades archipelago and is located in the central part of the Aegean Sea. The nearest islands are Andros, Delos and Mykonos. Nobody knows when people first appeared on Tinos, but definitely - a long time ago, back in the prehistoric era. As shown by archaeological excavations, already in the Copper Age, that is, about five thousand years ago, Tinos was inhabited, and scientists call the Koreans or Leleges the first settlers. That time is characterized by the construction of military fortresses. The oldest island settlement is located on a place called Vrekastro, which, in fact, means a fortress, and dates back to the third millennium BC.
It is believed that the name of the island comes from the name of the ancient Ionian king Tinos. It is possible that this is a real person, since his origin can be traced from the city of Karia, in Asia Minor.
During the reign of Mycenae, Tinos was part of their sea power, which is confirmed by the numerous Mycenaean burials found on the island. In the dark era, called the Dark Ages, that came after the Cretan-Mycenaean period, the inhabitants of the island were often raided by pirates and various sea robbers.
Tinos has unique ancient temples. For example, the temple of the Great Goddess, who would later receive the name of Demeter. But even more curious is the temple of Poseidon and Amphitrite, or rather, its temple buildings.
It turned out that this temple had a hospital where the rarest and most difficult operations for those times were carried out. This became known from the inscriptions carved on marble stones by the happily healed patients. It was from those distant times that Tinos began to envelop the aura of the healing island, although only in 270 BC. he was given the "tigul" of the Sacred Island for being the site of massive healings.
Many beautiful marble sculptures have also been found on Tinos. Perhaps this is due to the fact that at one time on the island of Tinos, the famous sculptor Phidias taught for some time and passed on his secrets to local masters. By the way, it was the local architects who built the temple of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Not surprisingly, in the 19th century, Tinos became one of the largest centers for marble work, not only in Greece itself, but throughout the world.
Tinos is mentioned several times in ancient Greek legends. Indeed, one of its mountains - Chiknya - is considered the "home of Aeolus", although Poseidon was the protector and patron of the island.
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The island of Tinos is mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey, where he tells how one of the participants in the expedition of the Argonauts was shipwrecked off the coast of Tinos. He managed to get to the shore, but instead of words of thanksgiving about salvation, he called Poseidon obscenely, which caused the wrath of the sea god. Trying to hide from the fury of the deity, the young man ran to Mount Chiknya, but even there he could not hide from Poseidon, who punished the wicked with death.
Another legend tells of Hercules, who, grieving for revenge, killed the two sons of the wind god Aeolus. Aeolus plunged into an abyss of grief and lost control of the winds that have ruled the island ever since. Having buried his sons on Mount Chiknye, the god of the winds installed giant marble columns on their grave. And when his grief became unbearable, the columns trembled so that the earth on the island shook.
Throughout its history, Tinos has constantly passed from hand to hand of a variety of conquerors: Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Goths, Saracens, Crusaders, Venetians and, finally, the Turks, who made it part of their Ottoman Empire. In 1771-1774, the Cyclades, including the island of Tinos, were liberated from the Turks by brothers Alexei and Fyodor Orlov. But this also meant that the island fell under the rule of Russia. Tinos was completely freed only in 1821, having become free from everyone, and it was on it that a miracle happened, which played a large role in the war of Greece for its independence. Perhaps even decisive.
And this miracle consisted in finding the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Megalohari, which is translated from Greek as “Great Joy”.
The Mother of God appeared to a certain nun from the monastery of the Assumption of the Mother of God named Pelageya in a dream and said that on a hill, near the pier, among the stones of a burnt church, once built on the ruins of the temple of Dionysus, a miraculous icon was hidden, which should be removed.
Tormented by doubts, Pelageya first told the abbess about her dream, she sent the nun to the chairman of the monastery commission, he went straight to Metropolitan Gabriel, and he announced the wonderful vision of Pelageya already publicly. It was decided to search for the icon by the whole world.
Soon, the remains of an ancient church were discovered, which, as it turned out, was called Zoodochu Pigis (source of life). And as if in confirmation that the seekers are on the right path, an ancient well near the church was miraculously filled with water.
On January 30, 1823, the icon itself was found. More precisely, its half, on which an angel was depicted. A few days later, the other half was revealed with the kneeling Virgin Mary. It became clear that this icon is the Annunciation. It was in the ground for almost 800 years, was broken, but did not lose its colors.
The news that a miraculous icon was found on Tinos instantly spread throughout Greece and caused an unprecedented rise in patriotism. This miracle began to be considered a sign that the Mother of God herself was blessing the Greeks to fight for freedom.
Pilgrims, including the leaders of the liberation movement, reached out to the icon to bow to the Mother of God. And back, these people took away not only grace, but also the firm belief that the Virgin Mary patronizes their struggle.