Milking Sheep for St George

On Saint George’s day in the village of Asigonia in Crete, the shepherds bring all of the herds down from the mountains to have them milked.

Shepherds milking sheep

From the other side, it looks just like this:

Five sheep at a time

Then, of course, the milk has to be pasteurised:

Pasteurisation

Then the milk is given freely to anyone who wants some. The village priest then blesses the herd to keep them safe for the coming year.

Village priest blessing the herds of sheep

The Cheese

Of course the herds are milked every day but then the milk goes to the village co-operative cheese making factory right there in the village.

The village cheese making factory

At the back of the factory is the storehouse for the cheese where it is left to mature. The cheese that they make the most of is the delicious Cretan Graviera. Finally here are the great graviera cheeses stacked high.

Cretan Graviera Cheeses

Also, the sheep are quite musical

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