Christian holiday marked in Athens amid fires' misery

Greek Christians near the north of Athens celebrated the Assumption of Mary on Sunday despite the surrounding areas still showing the scars of recent wildfires.

In the village Ippokratios Politia, around 40 km (25 miles) north of Greece's capital, people spoke of the destruction they had experienced with one local land owner, Evangelos Pergalias saying "for all of us everything is black, both outside and inside of us."

Father Petros Theodosiou, a priest from Krioneri, spoke of his experience of the recent wildfires recalling the "miracle" that saved his church.

"We truly experienced a miracle. When the fire was heading towards the houses and the church, the wind would miraculously change and take the flames away," Theodosiou said.

Although wildfires are common in Greece during the hot, dry summers, hundreds of blazes have broken out across the country in the space of a few days in the wake of an especially long and intense heat wave.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday described the fires as the greatest ecological disaster Greece has seen in decades.

The fires in Greece stretched the country's firefighting capabilities to the limit, and the government appealed for help from abroad.

Around 24 European and Middle Eastern countries sent aid, including fire fighters, aircraft and vehicles.

IMAGE: AP