THE MIRACLE A True Story had all disappeared save the one who had suggested they return later. After destroying the airline's offices, leaving almost nothing standing, they were about to make their exit when the "guard" urged them to finish the job by destroying a large advertisement displayed in the inner office. This they did, and when they finally departed they left behind them a scene that resembled a bombsite.    In another part of the city, one group of demonstrators had spent two whole hours venting their blind rage and hatred by destroying the tombstones and crosses in the Greek cemetery at Sisli. Opening up the most recent graves they removed the bodies and hacked them to pieces with knives.    At the Church of the Virgin Mary of Vlacherna, which was built on the foundations of a Byzantine church that dated back to 470 AD, the frenzied mob destroyed what the Greeks had managed to preserve for 1,485 years.    The historic 13th century Church of Saint George at Psomathia, which the Turks called kanli kilise (bleeding church) because of the blood shed on that spot during the Fall of Constantinople, was turned into a heap of ruins. In the Bosphorus district, the screaming mob pushed a Turkish flag into the hands of a priest and forced him to chant "Cyprus is Turkish!" as loudly as he could "so that Archbishop Makarios could hear him". Scared out of his wits, the wretched priest was unable to shout very loudly and was savagely beaten up, kicked and left in a bloody heap on the road.    In the Byzantine district of Pikridion, known as Hasköy in Turkish, the mortal remains of the latter-day saint, Argyri, kept in a silver urn, were strewn on the streets. Nothing was left except for a few charred relics.    In Therapia, the Metropolitan Church of Derki and its library containing rare and valuable documents were burnt to the ground. The historic church building, where secret meetings had taken place prior to the 1821 Revolution between the city's elders and Papaflessas, a member of the Filiki Etairia who stopped in Constantinople on his way to Odessa on the Black Sea, was completely destroyed. Bishop Iakovos of Derki managed to escape at the last minute and was saved thanks to the help offered him by Dimitris Koutsopoulos and the head waiter at the Touring Club.    At Mega Rema - called Arnavutköy in Turkish - was the residence of Bishop Gennadios of Ilioupolis, a learned and exceptional man: sociologist, historian, theologian and prolific writer, he was a highly cultured man who spoke seven languages and was renowned not only amongst the Greeks of Constantinople but throughout Christendom. It was precisely this prestige that marked him as a target of Turkish wrath. That night the mob broke into his house and having found him on the upper floor, beat him up savagely and threw him down the stairs. It then set about destroying everything inside the building, including a valuable library which the Bishop had built up. Finally he was dragged outside and assaulted yet again before being left, unconscious, on the street. Bishop Gennadios died from his injuries three days later.    At the historic Monastery of Zoodochos Pigis, known as the Baloukliotissa, it was the policemen and night-watchman who were supposed to be guarding the building who led the mob in the task of destruction and looting. The three monks who were in the monastery on the night of September 6th were either killed or badly beaten up. One 90-year-old monk, Chryssanthos Mantas, was burned alive. The 60-year-old abbot, Bishop Gerasimos of Pamfilios, was tortured and received severe head injuries. The 35-year-old monastery priest, Evangelos, was also beaten and tortured. The mob wanted to put him to death 47 and 48 Leonidas Koumakis THE MIRACLE A True Story If you prefer a hard copy of the book, please send an email to HEC-Books@hec.greece.org Previous Page | Initial Page | Site Map | Next Page (49th of 204) © For Internet 2001 HEC and Leonidas Koumakis. Updated on 19 June 2001.