The chapels or iconostasis alongside the road in Greece.
Something about the chapels or iconostasis alongside the road. The literal translation is ‘icon stop’. The chapels have a three way meaning; either an accident happened with casualties, or an accident happened with a good ending, or it is a reference to the nearest church or monastery.
The chapels always contain an icon, an oil lamp, oil, matches or a lighter, a fuse and sometimes even some money.
The chapels can contain different icons; an icon of the saint which the person is named after when it concerns a fatal accident. Usually you will find a picture of the person that died. When it concerns an accident with a good ending you will find an icon of Agios Georgios, the saint of the road users, to show gratitude for the happy ending.
When the iconostasis is a reference to the nearest church you will find an icon of which the church is named after. Possibly this is also an Agios Georgios icon, if that would be the name of the church.
The lights in the chapels are almost always burning. If the light is off, one is allowed to light it. When you notice that the oil or the fuse is finished, you can leave some coins behind to buy these products. This has been a tradition for many years.
Besides that, the chapels also have a warning function. It shows that a certain part of the road is dangerous.