Drosoulites:The shadow army of Crete

May 18th 1828,Greece is enslaved by the Turks.The revolution begun in 1821 and in Crete Chieftain Hatzimihalis Dalianis and his men fighting in Fragokastello.350 of them died.

Since then every year May 17th until June 10th before the sun rises shadowy figures appear in front the monastery of St.Haralambos and they head down to the beach of Fragokastello.They are dressed in black and their armory is like the one the used in those times.Some on foot,others on horses.
And when the sun comes up,they disappear.

Drosoulites is the name the locals have given them.It means dew-men,because of the time that they appear.



I have witnessed the phenomeno myself more than once.My father was born in Crete and we used to visit many times a year.Many have witnessed it.They said that it is the reflection of the sun in the morning dew.
But doesn't explain the noise of the horse trot and the marching that we heard.You cannot interact with them and they seem unaware of the surrounding.
I tried to take pics once but they came out empty.Just thick fog appeared in the photos.

The castle:








So if any of you happen to be there on those dates,spend the night on the beach and you will propably see them.

Even if people don't want to see this phenomena they should still go to Crete anyway, it is a wonderful beautiful place.
I will try to get these dates on my next trip there and see what happens! it sounds like a fun way to spend the night!

reply to post by davespanners


I agree.Crete is a beautiful place to visit and full of urban legends and folk tales.My idea is to present every single one of them.When you go there let me know what happened.

Greece in general is full of stories like that.I have visited many places that they have such tales and i have lived some crazy stuff.Maybe it was just me,but they are interesting anyway.

Hi, Phantom traveller,

I'm a writer/researcher of 'paranormal' phenomena and I live in Athens (-are you Greek, too?).
I was reading your post about Drosoulites and found it very interesting. In fact, its just about a month ago when I had last visited the place... After assembling a small research team, we left for Crete on May 29th and we spent the following 12 days in what probably is the most extensive investigation made so far on the subject (at least since the time when members from the British Society of Psychical Research and Ag.Tanagras had visited the place in 1928-9!). And at the same time we have been gathering material for a documentary film which we are now putting together. During our stay, we had the full co-operation/support of the local community and the opportunity to discuss with several witnesses - mostly locals and of an old age, since in their majority the accounts were 40 years old or more. Many believe that the phenomenon has stopped after the alterations of the landscape that have began in the late 70s (building houses, cultivating land, etc). Nevertheless, incidentally, we did come up with a couple of more modern accounts (one by the end 90s and another about 10 years ago).
Since you mention that you have yourself witnessed the phenomena several times, I was wondering if you could give me some more details and descriptions of those experiences that you had and of the time that they had occurred, so that we may also take them into consideration in our quest for the truth behilnd the legend.

Cheers,

Jonathan

reply to post by JonathanBright


Hi Jonathan,

Welcome to ATS. I am Greek, i too live in Athens and i think we have met. I was a proud member of project Unicorn. 3 days ago i met with the guys and they told me about your project.

My father is from Crete and until the age of 16 i spent all my summers there. First time i saw them i was 9 years old(1988) and the last one was in 1994( and one more time in between). We didn't see them in every visit and that was something that puzzled me. Details are a little vague, because i was very young and i was awed by the sight (ok and a little scared).
The sound of the horses came first. I have this picture in my head of them, not really shadows, but like looking through a glass covered in steam.

Anyway, i wish i could help more. I'll try to recall more, but i' m afraid that after all these years i might have some things mixed up in my head.

Well, Phantom Traveller, if you were a member of the Unicorn project, then we must have met (-you didn't happen to be present in our little excursion at mount Pelion, have you?...)

During the summers that you spent in Crete, did you stay in the area of Frangokastello/Sfakia, or you went there on day trips, only visiting? And since you were young was your father, or anybody else along with you at the time? If so, did they see the same thing? I'm asking because I've heard that sometimes it can so happen that one person might be seeing the phenomenon, while another standing next to the first may not...