Easter is the one of the most sacred holidays for people in Greece. Greeks
celebrate the festival with religious fervor, by attending special church
services. A number of customs are associated with the celebration of the
festival, which is a fifty-day religious affair, in the nation. While most of
the events are concentrated in and around the church, people in the country make
it a point that they enjoy the holidays with their family, friends and close
relatives as well. Traditional Greece recipes are prepared for the festival. The
custom of exchanging Easter candles is one of the highlights of Easter in
Greece. Check out more information on the traditions of Easter in Greece.
Easter Celebration In Greece
Apokreas, the Greece Carnival season, precedes the 40 days of fasting, which
lead up to the Easter day. The carnival is important to Orthodox, in the same
way as Mardi Gras is important to Catholics. In Athens, during the last two
weekends of Apokreas, people dress up in costume and go to the Plaka, hitting
each other with plastic clubs that squeak, and throwing confetti. In Thrace and
Macedonia, young women in traditional clothing called the 'Lazarins', go around
the villages, singing traditional Easter songs.
On Saturday before Easter Sunday, the Orthodox Patriarch of Greece breaks the
seal of the door of the tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem and emerges with the Holy Fire. The flame is then flown by Olympic
Airways, accompanied by high-ranking priests and government officials to Athens
airport, where it is met by an honor guard to the small church of Agia Anargyroi
in the Plaka. From there, the light is distributed to churches all over Attika
and the rest of Greece.
As the Saturday evening approaches, people congregate in the church, carrying
unlit candles. At midnight, the priest announces the Resurrection of Lord Jesus
Christ ("Christos anesti") and lets the people illuminate their candles of the
Holy Flame, taken from Christ's nativity cave in Jerusalem. After the rituals
are over, the priest blesses the food carried by people to the church, which are
served on Easter Sunday.
After the late-night resurrection service of the Greek Orthodox Church,
resurrection soup 'mageritsa' is served to the congregation. On Easter Sunday,
spit-roast lamb is the centerpiece of the table. In the early morning, the spits
will be turning in the courtyards and as the lamb, "kokoretsi" is slowly cooked,
and the aroma of the roasting lamb whets the appetite of the hungry souls.
Christopsomon, a round, flat loaf marked with a cross and decorated with red
Easter eggs, is another Greek Easter delicacy that should not be missed out,
when you are celebrating Easter in Greece.
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