Location information

Saetopolemos

On the Monday after Easter every year there is the Saetopolemos in places like Kalamata, Messini and other villages. It is an old custom of Kalamata, and it has to do with playing with fire, which dates back to the Revolution of 1821. Then, they put gunpowder in cardboard cylinders and, when they lit them, the flame and the noise they made caused the Turkish cavalry to run away. So, the saeta of Kalamata constitutes the remnant of a primitive flame-thrower which has been perfected today, and the bouloukia (=groups of people) who throw them are those who continue an ancient worship of fire which purifies and frightens at the same time.

This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.

• http://www.na-messinia.gr/docs-en/ithi.htm (1 img.)