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Easter in Greece

The Holy Week is a period of mourning and believers go to church more often during these days to attend the services which narrate Christ's Passion. It is also a common practice for Greeks to keep a fast during the Holy Week or in some places for forty days before the day of resurrection.

 

The preparations for the Easter table start on Holy Thursday. The housewives prepare traditional tsoureki brioche, Easter cookies and dye boiled eggs red. In the north of Greece housewives also hang a piece of red fabric from a balcony of their front door.

On Good Friday, there is a representation of Christ being buried. Everybody goes to church to decorate the Epitaphios with all kinds of flowers. The Epitaphios is a large icon set on a base which is carried around the church while the priests are chanting and the Christians follow the procession. In some places such as Hydra, there is a custom to burn a Judas dummy as well.

 

In some places such as Corfu the Easter celebration is a bit different and many people from all over Greece and abroad visit the island to celebrate these special days and see the extraordinary sight of the people of Corfu throwing clay pots of water outside their windows on Saturday.

During the night, on Saturday, people gather in churches with candles in their hands which are lit as soon as the Holy Light from Jerusalem is brought and then the church lights are switched off and at midnight the priest chants "Christos Anesti" which means "Christ is risen" and people outside the church start to let off fireworks. In some parts of Greece this is a spectacular sight. In the village of Vrodados in Chios for example, the congregations of two churches launch rockets at one another.

 

After the resurrection the churchgoers return home late at night with their candles still burning with the Holy Light. Before entering their house they make the sign of a cross, for blessing, using the lighted candle and then they set the table to eat the traditional mageiritsa which is a soup made of meat and vegetables while they also crack open their red eggs.

Sunday is the day of the great celebration, centering around an Easter table dominated by meat roasted in the oven or mainly on a spit. Then come the traditional songs and dances that last until late at night.

Upcoming Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday Dates: