The reason why I didn’t go to Evosmos is because I looked at the map and saw that it was very built-up. I thought parking would be difficult and queuing long. Moreover, I couldn’t find information on which vaccine they were doling out. I decided to stick with my local health centre and finally managed to get my booster on Monday evening (10th January). I went to the health centre in the morning where I was told it was better to enquire after 5pm when they would have a better idea of the no-shows. The employee was polite and friendly, and briefly showed me the red exes on his tablet. Three of the first four had not shown up. I have heard that people not showing up for medical appointments in the UK cost the NHS billions annually. There seems to be the same problem in Greece. I went back in the evening where I was dealt with quickly and efficiently. The following day, my Covid certification (ie Covid pass) was available for downloading and printing.
I don’t know if the following is in any way connected to the current crisis, but it shows that getting buried in Greece is anything but straightforward. The week began with this headline: Θεσσαλονίκη: «Φράκαραν» τα κοιμητήρια στην Καλαμαριά – Αναμονή έως 10 μέρες: Thessaloniki – the cemetery in Kalamaria is “jam packed” – up to a 10-day wait. There are a number of issues here. First of all, after a natural death, Greek funerals and burials happen within about three working days, so a 10-day wait is an eon. Secondly, Athens and Thessaloniki have high population densities compared with European cities of comparable size. If we compare Thessaloniki with Glasgow, the population densities are 7,100/km2 and 3,555/km2 respectively. This means there is very little space for the expansion of cemeteries. Third, this results in a mix of Greek superstition and the rapaciousness of the Orthodox Church, which, for specious doctrinal reasons (the real reason is money) still opposes cremation. From here on everything gets more than a little ghoulish.
In crowded cities like Thessaloniki, the cost of buying a burial plot is prohibitive so Greeks rent a plot for four or five years. And who is the landlord? The Orthodox Church? Well, actually no. Officially cemeteries are owned by municipalities, but some money must flow back to the Church. It is not too far removed from Luther’s rebellion against the Catholic Church’s selling of indulgences, a kind of 16th century Get-out-of-Purgatory Card. So, what happens in 4 or 5 years? Either the lease is extended or the “tenant” is evicted. In the case of eviction, the corpse is exhumed, and two things can happen. Assuming the body has decomposed, the bones are cleaned and placed in an ossuary (οστεοφυλάκιο) or the bones are burnt in a big cauldron called a χωνευτήρι. As you can imagine, the most common option is the latter, SO the dead person is CREMATED after all. Aside from the disgusting hypocrisy, there is another stomach-churning aspect to this. If the dead person had been receiving chemotherapy, this treatment, it seems, slows down the decomposition process. After a corpse has lain for 4 or 5 years in the ground, a trained eye would normally be able to recognise immediately – mainly by observing the pelvic bone – if the skeleton is male or female. Greeks, however, will be able to recognise the zombie that was their cancer-stricken father. It must be like Michael Jackson’s Thriller minus the music and dancing.
Going back to Kalamaria, a nice area near the airport, there is some discussion on shortening the lease. Currently it is 4 years + 1, but under discussion is 3 years plus 6 months. If that goes through, the relatives might as well bring the mp4 and speakers to the grave and re-enact Thriller with the semi-decayed corpse as the star of the show.
If you are interested, the article is here: https://www.ethnos.gr/greece/article/190647/thessalonikhfrakarantakoimhthriasthnkalamariaanamonheos10meres
The next article – over 20 years old now – is also interesting: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-aug-12-mn-65083-story.html It discusses the ghoulishness of premature exhumation and the resistance to cremation. Since it was written, cremation was legalised in 2006 but the first crematorium was not opened until September 2019. It is a private crematorium in a small town near Thebes called Ritsona. It is private because not one municipality in Greece has had the balls to stand up to the Church and build a public crematorium. The LA Times article and the one below discuss the fact that many families have taken their dead relatives to Bulgaria for cremation. Adds a whole new literalness to the expression, “Go to buggery.” [Reader, check the etymology of the expression] https://theworld.org/stories/2019-12-27/greeces-first-and-only-crematorium-opens-despite-pushback-church
For a more scholarly look at burial v cremation you can read this: https://theworld.org/stories/2019-12-27/greeces-first-and-only-crematorium-opens-despite-pushback-church
Incidentally, while checking for the precise meaning of ossuary, I found this question online: “What is the difference between a columbarium and an ossuary?” Columbarium was new to me. An ossuary is a vault or casket where bones are kept, whereas a columbarium is a vault where cremation urns are stored. I bet that information has brightened up your lives.
And let’s conclude with a little vocabulary: τέφρα = ashes, αποτέφρωση = cremation, and αποτεφρωτήρας or κρεματόριο = crematorium.