Mykonos by Night: The Island’s Untold Vampire Tale

The Vampire of Mykonos. Credit: GreekReporter Archives

Mykonos, Greece’s astir celebrated island, is well-known for its luxurious amenities, enactment atmosphere, and the Hollywood celebrities who sojourn the land each year. However, small is known astir the vampire who haunted the island.

According to accounts from section residents, determination was a ferocious vampire, known arsenic “Vrykolakas” successful Greek, that terrorized the residents of the Greek land of Mykonos.

The Greek vampire is an undead, fearsome carnal that becomes much almighty the longer it is allowed to feed. Belief successful the Vrykolakas was wide successful Greece, peculiarly successful agrarian regions, up until the mid-twentieth century, but galore inactive judge successful the carnal to this day.

Both the term “Vrykolakas” and the fig itself apt travel from neighboring Slavic countries, wherever vampire legends are wide and are featured prominently successful folklore.

The Slavic connection “varkolak” is the basal of galore presumption for vampire-like figures passim Eastern Europe and the Balkans; really meaning “werewolf,” it came to correspond vampires successful astir Slavic countries. Although the Greek Vrykolakas shares galore similarities with Slavic vampires, it does not portion humor but alternatively behaves much similar modern zombie figures.

There are besides many creatures from past Greek mythology that besides lucifer vampires, namely the Empusae, Lamia, Mormo, and the Striges.

The Empusae were shapeshifters who often took the signifier of beauteous women. They had 1 limb of brass that was controlled by Hecate, a mysterious ancient Greek witch goddess. The creatures seduced and fed connected the bodies of young men in Greek mythology.

Similarly, the Lamia is a spine-chilling past Greek pistillate shapeshifter who consumes quality flesh, peculiarly children.

Mykonos island, Cyclades Group. Credit: Dronepicr/Flickr CC BY 2.0

The Vampire of Mykonos done the eyes of a visitor

Although determination are legends of vampires hunting the dormant crossed Greece, 1 of the astir well-known tales is that of the Vampire of Mykonos.

In 1701, agelong earlier Mykonos became a party destination for travelers worldwide, the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort traveled to the land to behaviour probe astir the section radical arsenic good arsenic the island’s flora and fauna.

While exploring Mykonos, the French adventurer heard stories from the locals of an undead villager who roamed astatine nighttime terrorizing his neighbors.

In his writings, de Tournefort labels the carnal a vampire and adjacent includes the Greek connection “vrykolakas” successful his text.

Before becoming a vampire, the antheral successful question was known to beryllium highly unfriendly and had argued with astir everyone connected the island. He was yet murdered.

According to the French botanist, aggregate locals attested that they had seen the antheral roaming astir the land aft his death.

In his writings, the botanist describes that, astatine first, the antheral turned vrykolakas was thing much than a nuisance. He was known to participate people’s houses, sneak up connected unsuspecting locals from behind, bargain nutrient and alcohol, and overturn furniture.

Yet, 1 night, the substance became overmuch much superior erstwhile the vampire of Mykonos attacked a man. After the incident, the locals were successful a authorities of daze and fear.

People rushed to churches wherever they begged priests to commune implicit them and bless them successful the hopes of gaining extortion from the creature.

In bid to enactment an extremity to the horrifying saga, which enraptured the full island, locals exhumed the man’s body, chopped retired the corpse’s heart, and past burned the remains.

This is precisely however Greek folklore asserts that vampires indispensable beryllium disposed of. In bid to termination the Vyrkolakas, 1 indispensable effort to destruct its assemblage by impaling, beheading, oregon cremating the vampire portion it sleeps successful its grave. This lone occurs connected Saturdays.

By destroying the assemblage of the creature, it is believed that the idiosyncratic is freed from surviving eternally arsenic the Vrykolakas and tin past rest.