Prophet Elias is considered the patron of mountaintops and climbers/ hikers in Greece. You will find small shrines and churches dedicated to Prophet Elias all over the country on hills and mountains.
Due to the close resemblance of the Greek pronunciation of the names Elias and Sun (Elias and Helios), where you only need to change one letter to switch from one name to the other, the prophet is often depicted as flying in a flaming chariot in the sky.
According to Greek folklore, Prophet Elias and Saint Nicholas (patron of sailors) were the best of friends, living at the sea-side. But the two clashed at some point, and Elias decided to go away, as far as possible. He carried a wooden oar with him, and asked people on his way to identify the object. People identified it as an oar, and he pressed on futher away and up the mountains. When someone identified the oar as "wood", Elias felt he was far enough from Nicholas and made that place his new home.
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