Church Rocket War (Rouketopolemos) – Chios Island, Greece

Rouketopolemos, or the Church Rocket War, is one of the most unique festival in the world!

Where: Vrontados, Chios Island, Greece

When: Easter Sunday, annually.

Where To Stay: Chios Hotels

Ready! Aim! Fire!

On the Greek island of Chios, is a small town called Vrontados with two churches – Agios Markos and Panagia Erithiani. Each Easter, members try to ring the opposite church bell.  Only, they do it with rockets.

Tens of thousands of homemade rockets pass between these two churches that are separated by a ravine. The tradition dates back to the Ottoman period.

The rocket war generally begins during midnight services on Easter Sunday. Priests inside the churches deliver their sermons despite the 60,000 rockets soaring outside.

While direct hits on the church bells are said to determine a winner, usually no winner can be determined.

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