The Marriage of Ios and Oia

In a place where creation and destruction lie side by side the volcanic island of Santorini was born. Once upon a time, when days were young and nights were stormy, the island of Ios fell in love with the picturesque  town of Oia. Ios lies to the north of Santorini. Looking south from Ios, you can see Oia just opposite perched on the northern cap of Santorini.

Ios  sent Oia some friendly waves. She noticed him and smiled back. After having exchanged waves for some time, they celebrated their wedding with music, a thunder storm and guests from all over the world.

Ios and Oia lived together and after some eruptions their children were born: Thirassia to the west, Aspronissi southwest, Palea and Nea Kameni in the middle, the twins Chris and Tina which were called Christiania together to the South, and the tiny late born St. Nicholas, who ist still so call he cannot appear on a map yet.

Every evening at sunset Ios whispered to Oia: "i love you". He said this on all days, including the cloudy ones when the sun was covered with clouds.

In Oia a branch of Tourism Industry had been created around that sunset. Thousands of Tourists were driven  in long lines of buses to Oia in order to be there the moment the sun set. They would sit on the old walls of the Castro and get ready to watch a spectacle, like watching in a giant theatre. The cafes, the narrow streets, the stairs down to Ammoudi, everywhere was overcrowded with sunset watchers.

When the moment approached for the sun to touch down on the western horizon, the haze over the sea turned blue while the sky turned red. And while the sun sank down and the mist rose up the whole atmosphere vibrated in an etherial purple. The many visitors and guests were moved by the charm and natural beauty of the place and time and turned to each other spontaneously and said in all the languages of the universe: "i love you, ich liebe Dich, ti amo, je t' aime, seni seviyourum, ik hou van je, σ αγαπω,  Я люблю тебя, 我愛你,…." Ios had touched them all with his love for Oia. 

And every morning, when the sun started to light up the eastern side of the horizon with the silhouettes of the islands appearing in their nightdresses of haze, Oia greeted her beloved husband with: "i love you". Her words quavered in the bays and beaches of Ios and the fish jumped for joy into the air. As they fell back into the water, into the silence of the morning, the splash of a sound  was created like the water whispering  "i love you". Oia had touched the fish in the sea with her love. She said this on all days, including the mornings when thick clouds hovered over the sea and hid the glorious sunrise.

As the days passed, evening by evening, morning by morning, so did the years. Oia became the place  in which more people said: " i love you" to one another than any other place on this planet. As creation and destruction lie near together, it was also a place in which people were more hostile, more quarrelsome and more nasty than in any other place. But this is an other story, written in another file….

Dear Friends, if you belong to the invited guests of Ios and Oia, please leave a comment in the Guest book of their Wedding, thank you. We would particularly appreciate a translation of this tiny tale into any language you know, so that more and more people in a ll the languages of the world say: "i love you" to one another in order to make the atmosphere of this earth vibrate in the hues of love.