Serbs are rushing to Greece to see a miracle: They are going in a church full of venomous snakes, they pet them and pray with them (PHOTO) (VIDEO)

Cephalonia is famous for its beautiful beaches and for one specific thing that happens only in August, in a small village Markopolos, at the southeast of the island. Namely, at the Dormition of the Mother of God, a large number of snakes comes in a church located in this village, and locals believe that they are the blessing of the Mother of God.

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Snakes, that are several meters long, and their youngling are appearing always in the same spot - near the bell in the church itself! Although many claim that they are venomous, they never bit anyone, and tourists and locals are playing and petting them.  

Crkva, Kefalonija, zmije Foto: Milica Kuč

Girl from Serbia, Milica Kuc, is married to a Greek and she lives on Cephalonia, and so far she never had the courage to visit this church. However, she decided to visit it this year and she published her photos of the church on the page "Live from Greece".

- There is a celebration for Dormition of the Mother of God, each year on August 15th in the village Markopolos, and snakes appear. The snakes are going away from the church after a day or two and they return at the same time next year. The locals call this "agiofida", which means "holy snakes". They are up to three meters long and they are harmless to people, you can pet them. They can be seen on icons all the time. They have a cross pattern on their heads and tongues - Milica wrote on the page.

Crkva, Kefalonija, zmije Foto: Milica Kuč

She told everything she has heard about this place to our portal, and she explained how it all looked like.

- I was afraid of going until this year, although the family of my husband goes each year. This is the main subject here, and the neighbors and the tourists are talking only about that these days. The church is full of locals on that day, but also, it is full of tourists that are coming with busses on tours to see the "treasures of the Mother of God". Snakes are crawling all over the church, and when the Mass is complete they are going away and they are not returning until the next year - Milica explained.

Snakes are crawling around and they wrap around people and Icons, and the parents are putting them on children's heads because they believe it is for good fortune and good health. However, the locals claim that the biggest mystery is that these snakes can't be found few days prior or after the holiday. 

According to Milica, although these snakes appear each year, there were two years when they didn't come.

Crkva, Kefalonija, zmije Foto: Printscreen/ RTV Kruševac

According to the people who visited this place and who talked to the priests, there are numerous legends related to the appearance of these snakes.

- These snakes are called "the snakes of the Mother of God" because the village was attacked by a pirate Barbarossa in 1705, where the monks prayed to the Mother of God to turn them into snakes so they can escape imprisonment. Many think that their prayers were heard because when the pirates entered the village, there were a lot of snakes crawling on the walls, icons, floor, people... Ever since that event, these snakes have been returning to the village each year. It is thought that the snakes are bringing luck, because the only two times that they didn't appear in the village was in 1940 when there was an occupation of Cephalonia, and in 1953 when a catastrophic earthquake struck the island - they say.

However, there were those that don't believe in this phenomenon.

- People, your beliefs really surprise me. You are sacrificing your own child for some nonsense, one bite and it's over. Not only the child's life, but your own - one of the tourists wrote on the page, and several people shared his point of view.

And do you believe in this story? 

VIDEO: How to enter a Greek church and code of conduct: 

(Telegraf.co.uk / M. Antonijevic / m.antonijevic@telegraf.rs)