The serpentine icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (Panagia Fedusa) resides in the Assumption Church of the village of Markopoulo, in the eastern part of the Greek island of Kefallonia in the Ionian Sea.

According to an ancient legend, this icon was found after a fire in the roots of a charred tree, and after the icon could not be moved to the temple, a chapel was erected on the site of the appearance of the image, and then a monastery. When the island of Kefallonia was captured by pirates, they fled in horror from an incalculable number of snakes that suddenly appeared at the walls of the monastery.

And now every year after the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, snakes begin to crawl to the Assumption Church. They have gray velvet skin, a thin body about a meter long, but the most important thing that distinguishes these snakes from others is that a cross is clearly visible on the head.

Starting from the day of the Transfiguration, snakes appear more and more in the vicinity of the temple, and on the eve of the Day of the Assumption of the Mother of God, they fill the entire ravine on top of which the temple stands. Residents walk along the slope and the bottom of the ravine, collect snakes in order to bring them to the temple according to the established pious custom. On the island they are called snakes of the Virgin.

But even without these individuals brought by believers, the temple is filled with snakes. And after the end of the service, the snakes crawl away. No one knows where they come from and where they disappear after the holiday.

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