Religious procession on August 11
The fourth and latest procession on the island of Corfu.
On December 7, 1715, the Venetian state entered the war with Turkey, 16 years after the signing of the Treaty of Charles (1699) ending the Venetian-Turkish War, after which the Venetians were left with only the Peloponnese, the island of Corfu and small territories on the coast of Epirus. And on July 24, 1716, Turkish troops (33,000 soldiers) began the siege of the island of Corfu. The Turks managed to land in the Ipsos area and advance through Gouvia to the capital. The siege of the city lasted until August 11, 1716. A small army of defenders of the island, numbering about 5,000 people (about 3,000 Corfu residents plus a small number of soldiers from the island of Zakynthos and from the mainland Parga), heroically held the defense of the city and fortresses. The Corfu lieutenant colonel Adonis Stratigos and the commander-in-chief of the Venetian army, John Matthew Schulenburg (an Austrian), successfully held the defense, but their forces were running out. The shortage of weapons and ammunition also took its toll.
The Turkish commander Mukhtar Pasas suggested that they surrender. He was confident in the victory of the Turkish troops, who had a powerful fleet and a huge advantage in manpower. Meanwhile, the believers of the island of Corfu prayed day and night in the church at the relics of St. Spyridon, asking the saint to protect them from the Turkish invaders.
Saint Spyridon saves the island once again. He appears at 5 am on the eve of the scheduled assault before the Turkish troops, descending from heaven in a vision surrounded by angels and holding a steel sword in his hand. Seeing the saint heading in their direction with a drawn sword, the Turkish soldiers panicked and fled, leaving all those captured. In addition, at that moment a powerful 10-point storm began (in August there have never been any storms in the Ionian Sea in history), and all the ships and guns of the Turkish fleet were scattered by the raging sea. The Turkish flotilla tried to hastily retreat from the shores of the island, losing guns and suffering colossal damage from the storm. The remaining Turkish captives said that they were seized with horror when they saw a monk descending from heaven, holding a torch in his hand and ready to set fire to the Turkish ships.
The losses of the Turkish army were great: foot and horse soldiers, sailors and commanders - a total of about 15,000 people. The Corfueans numbered only about 1,500 killed and wounded. The Turks left behind a large arsenal of weapons and 64 cannons.
On August 11, 1716, in honor of the victory over the Turkish invaders, the islanders and their defenders held a church procession led by their patron Saint Spyridon, thanking God and the Saint for saving them from the Turkish troops. The Venetian authorities presented the Church of Saint Spyridon with a large silver candlestick.
The route of the procession was extended in 1956 by decision of the Metropolitan of Corfu Methodius Condostanos (1942-1967) so that tourists arriving on the island of Corfu from all over the world would have the opportunity to observe this solemn procession.
After the procession, Saint Spyridon stands in an open reliquary near the iconostasis until the evening for two days. The temple is open around the clock, day and night you can venerate the open relics of the saint, as well as his right hand, services and prayers are held around the clock
