Even though Leros is connected with several legends that link the religion with the sea, Panagia Kavouradaina remains one of the greatest stories-legends of the island. In both versions of the legend, the icon of the Virgin Mary, who is painted within a large crab (hence the name Kavouradaina: Virgin Mary of the crabs), was “rescued” by fishermen, and at the point of the discovery of the icon, the small stone-built church was erected. The utilitarian inside of the church, in which an adult can barely fit, is built literally within the rocks, thus making one of the most picturesque chapels of Leros, as well as a true treasure and reminder of the connection between the island and the sea.
