In Larissa, on the borders of the ancient city of Omolio and at the end of an impassable path, a branch of which the road leads to the Tempe Theater, is the unknown Hermitage of Saint Paraskevi, where it has been located for several centuries.
It is a temple naturally formed in a rock cavity, surrounded by a wall of stones and blocks of bricks and probably dating back to the time of the Palaiologoi (1261–1400). Unfortunately, today it is partially destroyed, as a result of which it is preserved in low ruins.
An elderly woman who currently cares for this sacred site makes mention of an old macabre story about a coffin that can be found in this hermitage and the contents that it contains.
There, in the ravines of the area, a group of ascetics lived, who had the Church of Saint Paraskevi as their central church. In the 1950s, when efforts were made to restore the temple, the then residents of Omolio found human bones under stones that had been detached, claiming that they might belong to the ascetics. In fact, a resident of the village who specialized in the construction of coffins was asked to construct a case for their preservation.
Since then, for about 70 years, there has been a coffin behind the temple wall containing these bones! Every summer, on the day of the feast of Saint Paraskevi (July 26), the faithful cross the steep path and come to the hermitage to light a candle, where they can also still see this coffin.
It is a temple naturally formed in a rock cavity, surrounded by a wall of stones and blocks of bricks and probably dating back to the time of the Palaiologoi (1261–1400). Unfortunately, today it is partially destroyed, as a result of which it is preserved in low ruins.
An elderly woman who currently cares for this sacred site makes mention of an old macabre story about a coffin that can be found in this hermitage and the contents that it contains.
There, in the ravines of the area, a group of ascetics lived, who had the Church of Saint Paraskevi as their central church. In the 1950s, when efforts were made to restore the temple, the then residents of Omolio found human bones under stones that had been detached, claiming that they might belong to the ascetics. In fact, a resident of the village who specialized in the construction of coffins was asked to construct a case for their preservation.
Since then, for about 70 years, there has been a coffin behind the temple wall containing these bones! Every summer, on the day of the feast of Saint Paraskevi (July 26), the faithful cross the steep path and come to the hermitage to light a candle, where they can also still see this coffin.
