This icon of Agios Eleftherios is an heirloom of the Papadogiannis family in Chania. It is kept at the ‘House of Asia Minor Greeks’, a space housing evidence of the Asia Minor refugee experience. The house is under the care of the ‘Agios Polykarpos’ Brotherhood of Asia Minor Greeks of Chania.
Only half of the icon of Agios Eleftherios survives in Chania. We can see half the body of a saint dressed in blue, green, red and white holding a sceptre. The face of the saint is missing, but the name ‘Eleftherios’ remains. The wood on which the figure of the saint was painted has been torn in half.
‘When their ancestors finally reached a port, they had to cut the icon in two, one half for each family, as the family members scattered throughout Greece. And they said, “When we get back together, we’ll put the icon back together, too”. The two parts of the icon have not been reunited yet’, narrates Ilektra Tsika-Maraki, one of the oldest members of the Brotherhood. This icon of Agios Eleftherios reminds us that people who become refugees are very rarely fully rehabilitated even in the most rudimentary sense of reuniting with family.
Image source: Facebook page / Αδελφότητα Μικρασιατών Ν. Χανίων “Ο Άγιος Πολύκαρπος” – Μουσείο