The Easter is the biggest celebration for Orthodox Hellenism. The joy for the miracle of the Resurrection of the Godman in combination with the optimism created by the rebirth of nature, result in the majestic celebration of Lambra in every corner of Greece.
For Cyclades The celebration of Easter is a good opportunity not only to escape from everyday life, even in view of the tiring summer season, but also to prove that they keep their customs alive and unchanged, in defiance of those who claim otherwise. So, let's make a mental journey to the Cycladic islands to experience, at least in part, their Easter customs, of yesterday and today. The presentation is, of course, indicative and not analytical, which would require the writing of entire volumes.
Easter in Amorgos
On Good Friday, the people of Amorgos scatter oregano and alisfakia leaves in the streets of their villages, which they musk during the procession of the Epitaph. On Lazarus Saturday, the housewives prepare the "Lazarakia", buns in the shape of a human, baked in the oven. On Easter Sunday in Tholaria of Aegiali, Amorgos, the custom of the Jew is revived, a group game culminating in the burning of this human figure immediately after the end of the Sunday Easter procession, which apparently refers to the burning of Judas. In Lagada, a Jew is shot on Easter Monday. However, what mainly characterizes the Amorgian Easter is the seven-day procession of the Holy Icons of I.M. Χοζοβιώτισσας. The icons accompanied by a large number of believers and with Byzantine magnificence leave the Monastery on Easter Sunday, pass through Chora and then visit Katapola and the villages of Kato Meria. In whichever churches they end up in, every night they become vespers and overnight, while in the morning, before leaving again, services are held. Similar processions of images accompanied by services take place in the villages of Aegiali. On the Sunday of Thomas, having completed their tour in all the villages of the island, through long routes, which are mainly covered with a footpath and accompanied by joyful ringing of bells, the images are exhibited for the last time in a popular pilgrimage, before taking the road back to Monastery of Hozoviotissa.
Easter in Anafi
On Holy Week, the housewives prepare the Easter sweets, starring the traditional honeysuckle, cheese pies with fresh mizithra, eggs, sugar and mastic, reminiscent of the honeycombs of Santorini or the lamps of Tinos. On the morning of Holy Saturday, they knead the cheese pies, with local cheese, mastic, anise and plenty of saffron, which gives them a special taste and a wonderful yellow soil. The afternoon is dedicated to the lighting of the oven, where the Anafiotiko goat with local cheese will be baked for 6 whole hours, until the time of the Resurrection, with the door and the chimney of the oven anointed and sealed with mud, so that air and oxygen do not enter the food burns. On Easter Sunday the bells ring joyfully from the morning, while in the afternoon, after the Second Resurrection, the Anafiotes gather in the square of Agios Nikolaos, where after the service and the procession of the icons, they share sweets from the families who have lost someone their man. In Anafi the custom of the swing was inextricably linked to the celebration of Easter, but, as in most Cycladic islands, unfortunately nowadays it has disappeared.
Easter in Andros
Anyone who has spent even one Easter in Andros knows without a doubt what a masculine is, the deafening click of which literally shakes the island on the night of the Resurrection and on the day of Easter.
The Andrian lilac is characterized by the delicious brilliance and the noisy mascara. Lampriatis is none other than the goat, which the Andriots fill with many eggs, various types of cheese, livers, fried breads and various spices and is baked in the oven from Holy Saturday afternoon, in order to be ready after the Resurrection service. As for the masks, they are small iron containers, 15-30 cm high -seen in the photo-, with thick walls, where gunpowder is poured and compressed as much as possible with powdered stone or other materials, so that the explosion is as much as possible possible. Ignition is achieved with a wick, which is inserted through a small hole in the bottom of the round container. Their thunder accompanies Christ Resurrected -especially in the Straits of Andros, where a real battle is taking place-, but they are also heard during Easter Sunday. It seems that the Andriots, primarily captains and sailors, transferred the art of "burlotier" from the ships to their island, to honor in this way the festive events and especially Easter. In many villages of Andros, on Easter Sunday afternoon, tsunas play in the streets, a traditional game that could be considered a precursor to bowling.
Easter in Antiparos
On Holy Thursday the housewives painted the red eggs, which they decorated with designs from flower leaves and daisies or wrote on them various wishes with bleach. They kneaded and made the stalks, the buns and a large bun with 5 red eggs and various designs of dough. In the evening of the same day, those Antipariotes who have a class for health issues or other problems, pin money on the ribbons, which adorn the Crucified. On Good Friday morning after the first service, the girls of the island decorate the Epitaph by singing the Praises, while in the evening of the same day, the procession of the Epitaph ends at the Cemetery, where the priest takes the body of the Lord and buries it virtually. The Easter table of Antiparos does not lack the sweet cheese pies, the melitini, as well as the cephalopods, for the resurrection dinner, made from the head and the legs of the slaughtered "probasto", which were wrapped with the cleaned intestines of the animal. On Easter Sunday, swings were traditionally set up, which were tied with long ropes to every tree or beam of the houses, even to the tamarisk trees on the beach. They rocked and sang Christ Resurrected and other verses related to Easter:
"Beautiful that Lambri is
from all the festivities
where the Resurrection comes out
and the priests sing. ”
Easter in Donoussa
The children of the island make Judas, which they fill with dynamite. On Easter Sunday, after Agapi, all the people of Donousi gather on the beach of the village, where they hang and burn the statue of the traitor of the Lord, with the epilogue of the day being written by the feast that is set up and lasts until the early morning hours. The traditional food of Lambri is the front part of the lamb, stuffed and baked in the oven. The peculiarity of the whole affair, however, lies in the baking, as most of Donousa's families bake their lamb all together, in an oven that belongs to one of them and that changes every year, with the whole custom being called Fourni. Thus, all the spacious home ovens accommodate, in turn, each one, the stuffed ones of the whole village. Besides, the inhabitants of the island are so few that most of them are related to each other. On Holy Saturday, the breads called peas are baked in these wood ovens.
Easter in Heraklion
In neighboring Heraklion, which also belongs to the complex of the Small Eastern Cyclades, the traditional food is also the baked lamb or goat, stuffed with oatmeal or rice, butter, cheese and liver, which they eat after the Resurrection and then go back to church. . Each godmother prepares and offers at her christening, along with the other Easter gifts, a stump, that is, a doll-shaped bun, decorated with a red egg. The delicious Easter tradition of Heraklion also imposes meletinia, ie sweet cheese pies.
Easter in Thirasia
The people of Thiras really experience Easter, since all the nights of Holy Week no one is missing from the church and they help in all the preparations for decoration, cleaning and whatever else is asked of them. The housewives, just before the Resurrection, go to the oven with the tsougalaki with their spaghetti, which are little men wrapped one by one on rosemary branches, where previously pieces of lamb or goat liver have been carefully passed - we could with a kind of liver say-, while in the same hoop they have also placed the head and the legs of the animal. Returning from the Resurrection, everyone goes through the oven to get their Resurrection dinner ready. Of course, the Thirasiotiko table does not lack the melitini, from local mizithra and honey.
Easter in Ios
The housewives prepare their kalashouni for Easter, small fried pies with honey and mizithra, while on the night of the Resurrection they prepare the boiled goat soup. On Good Friday, during the procession of the Epitaphs of the two Parishes of the island, the praises are sung by choirs of women and girls. In the past, in the neighborhoods of Ios on Easter day, swings were tied in the center of Chora, with young people rocking the girls, who sang traditional love songs. The older men played the balls in the area of the Mills, a game with small, iron red and green balls, where he earns the most points, the player who throws his ball, as close as possible to the small target ball, which it was called a fnisk or bochi.
Easter in Kea
The highlight of Holy Week is the exit, on the night of Good Friday, of the three Epitaphs of Ioulida, which through alleys and traditional shelters end in the central Square of the village. On Easter days, Ioulida and Korissia are full of people, since not only the Tziotes of Athens, but also the farmers, who live in the countryside of the island, have gathered here. The rich Easter tables and the island festivities are in their "forte". On Easter Sunday morning, after the Liturgy of Love, Judas is burned at Ioulida, Vourkari and Otzias.
Easter in Kimolos
On the night of Holy Thursday, the moving Mourning of the Virgin Mary is heard from the lips of the women who decorate the Epitaph. The statue of Judas is made by children and is burned on Easter day, while the swings were set up in at least three different parts of the village, the capital of Kimolos. The baked goat of the oven characterizes with its unique taste the Easter chalk table, the necessary complement of which are also the Easter rolls, the cheese, the amaranth and the sweet gingerbreads. The resurrection dinner includes boiled lamb with soup to adjust the stomach after a long period of fasting.
Easter in Koufonisi
On Holy Thursday, after the service, the people of Koufonissi decorate the Epitaph by chanting obituaries, until the early morning hours. At the time of the Divine Liturgy on Good Friday, they are divided into small choirs and sing the Praises alternately per verse, while during the procession of the Epitaph, the young people who accompany him keep lit smokers, at the same time that torches with fire have been placed along their entire length. of the coastal road, offering an impressive spectacle. However, Easter in Koufonissi is almost synonymous with the celebration of the island's patron saint, Agios Georgios, whose memory is usually celebrated on Easter Monday. It is the largest festival on the island of Lilliput, which gathers many people from Athens and the neighboring islands. There is a procession of the image of the Saint accompanied by rains of all kinds of explosives, free food is offered to all the pilgrims and three-way parties are set up, since the people of Koufonisia are one of the most revered Cycladic people.
Easter in Kythnos
On Holy Saturday night, the sychorion is celebrated, a custom in which, for the rest of the souls of their relatives, the Kythnians bring roasted meat, wine and bread to the church, which the priest has blessed and offer to those present. In Kythnos, swings used to be set up on Easter Monday, thus giving young men and women the opportunity to weave their romances, since any couple who went up to the swing was committed before God and people for their marriage. On Tuesday morning, groups consisting mainly of young people, who had participated in the swings the day before, returned to the village accompanied by instruments and collected red eggs from the houses. Then, they spread the feast with meze these red eggs, which for that time were an exquisite delicacy.
Easter in Milos
On Saturday, Lazarus, little girls holding baskets decorated with flowers, sing door to door Lazarus carols. The local delicacies of the day include the lambrokouloures, the kalisouni -a kind of dessert with maleki mizithra- and the tripods, pork legs wrapped in intestines and cooked egg-lemon soup, which are eaten after the Resurrection. Also the kalasounes, a kind of tsoureki that is not eaten, but is offered to relatives and groomsmen and is kept in the iconostasis of the house until the next Lambri. In the village of Plakes, on the afternoon of Good Friday, the representation of the Apostasy of Christ takes place. But the most characteristic Easter custom of Milos is the burning of Judas. Especially in the villages of Triovasalos and Pera Triovasalos, where the Easter events of the island culminate, the procession of the statues of Judas begins early on Easter morning. The men who made them, place them on a donkey and accompanied by instruments, carry them around the village, singing satirical songs. The troupe ends up in the church, where after the service of Love, the hanging dummies are set on fire, at the same time in both villages, while at the same time the men throw improvised explosives, mounted on the roofs of houses.
Easter in Mykonos
The housewives from Mykonos, like all the Cycladic women, whitewash and clean their houses, while on Lazarus Saturday they make Lazarakia, buns in the shape of a human body. The custom of burning Judas is maintained on the island with the care of the active local Cultural Associations. It is also worth watching the fate of the Virgin Mary from the local Women's Association, where the people of Mykonos sing, in front of the Epitaph, the touching human dialogue of a mother with her son: "You do not speak to me, my child, you do not speak to me, my child "," If you are torn down, horn, the whole world is torn down ", bringing Christ to emotionally human dimensions. However, we could not fail to mention here another characteristic religious custom of the island, although it is not purely Easter, but it refers to the wider period of Lent, during the first Saturday of which the icon of Panagia Tourliani descends from the homonymous Monastery of Ano Mera in Mykonos Town. The route is covered on foot and the image is followed by a crowd of people and the whole lot of the island. He is exhibited in a pilgrimage to Chora until the Saturday of Lazarus, when he returns to the Monastery of Tourliani with the same ritual and the same pandemic participation.
Easter in Naxos
The most emblematic Easter Naxian food is none other than the lambriano, ie the stuffed lamb or goat, the filling of which - (m) bottom in mountainous Naxos and (m) bottom in lowland-, consists of rice, cheeses, offal and finely chopped herbs, such as celery, celery, dill, fennel, etc., which have been simmered overnight on Holy Saturday. On Holy Saturday, housewives also make egg cookies and dumplings, 8-shaped cookies decorated with a white and a red egg. On Easter Sunday, in the service of Love, the litany takes place, the (c) hour of the icons of the church, in the streets of the village. In the past, before the service, the Jew (Jew) was burned in the churchyard. Another custom, which unfortunately has also disappeared, is the Fate of the Virgin Mary, which was fasted by fasting women, in front of the Epitaph, all the night of Good Friday to Holy Saturday. One of the many special customs of the villages of Naxos, which is worth mentioning, is the one with the lighted reeds, which the young people in Eggares, Galini and Melanes - where they are called proud and are considered to symbolize the torches held by the Romans , when they went to capture Christ - they collect and place in the parts of the villages, through which the procession of the Epitaph passes, creating a unique atmosphere. Throughout the week following Easter, the New Week as it is called, the dominant event for the Naxian society was the swings, which were set up in every village and every neighborhood.
Easter in Paros
In this Cycladic island we have a unique custom, which takes place in Marpissa, Paros on the night of Good Friday. During the procession of the Epitaph, religious events are held with representations of the Divine drama. Residents of the village dressed accordingly, play the various roles -Roman soldiers, disciples of Christ, etc.-, having been set up in the most appropriate part of the village, which serves as a backdrop. Thus, following the Epitaph, one can watch scene-by-scene, all the martyrdom of Jesus, from the entrance to Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the prayer on the Mount of Olives, to the Martyrdom of the Crucifixion and his Resurrection, in truly amazing directed "live tables" and in fact in the chronological order in which they occurred.
Easter in Santorini
The Santorini Easter table smells of melitini, sweets made with sugar, eggs and mizithra, while the goat, the rifaki as the locals call it, is cooked grilled or soup with sardoumia. In older, more difficult times, the soup could also be rooster. On Lazarus Saturday, in the squares of the villages of Santorini, the inhabitants set up Lazarus, a huge wooden cross wrapped in alisari and flowers. In Pyrgos, on the night of Good Friday, after the Apostasy, the funeral procession of Jesus begins in the alleys of the village. Hundreds of boxes of flammable material, placed on the roofs and walls of the Venetian Castle, light and ignite creating an evocative and unique atmosphere, while the women, from the courtyards of their houses, sprinkle the procession of the Epitaph with rose water. Also in the Tower, the statue of Judas is hung from Palm Sunday and remains there throughout Holy Week. On Easter Sunday morning, the trial of Judas takes place, based on a standard dialogue, but at the same time providing a large margin for improvisation. Judah is then executed, with multiple shots fired, causing successive explosions of explosives hidden in his trunk.
Easter in Serifos
On Good Friday after the decapitation or on Holy Saturday early in the morning, the relatives gather in groups and slaughter the Easter kids together. The whole process ends with a feast and wine drinking and ends late at noon on Holy Saturday, so that everyone can prepare for the Resurrection, where all the families go to church with a basket in which they place cheese, buns and as many red eggs as the members of the family. On Sundays, the swings are set up, where the piglets and the teasing songs are sung. If a young man manages to move a girl, it means that the rocker will marry the one he moved. The custom is kept almost unchanged and mainly in the villages of Kallitso and Panagia Serifou, where the cot is set up in the village square in front of the church of Panagia.
Easter in Sikinos
The delicious tone in this small Cycladic island is given by the gingerbread pies, made from local mizithra and honey, while the custom of the cradle has disappeared, as in many other islands. But the biggest event of the day, we would say is the festival of Zoodochos Pigi -Chrysopigi is called by the locals-, on Easter Friday. After dinner, food is offered to all pilgrims, while later in the shops of Chora are set up three-way parties, which end in the morning, before the start of the service.
Easter in Sifnos
The traditional Easter food of Sifnia is mastelo, the lamb cooked on vine branches in mastelo, ie in a clay pot, from which this delicious food is named. Its taste is unique, although its ingredients are only red wine, plenty of dill and salt and pepper. Also unique are the famous "birds of Lambri", which are nothing more than Easter cookies, which the imagination of the Sifnia housewife gives them a thousand and two shapes, such as humans, birds, animals, reptiles, fish, flowers and baskets. Everything is decorated with red egg and has a specific destination for whom it will be offered and when it will be consumed. The Sifni folklorist Antonis Troullos explains the name "birds" in two versions: a) he expresses the belief of the Christians that with the Resurrection of the Lord all the souls and inanimate beings on earth are resurrected and b) he expresses the thoughts of the housewife, who as she shapes Her "birds" see from her open window the birds of the sky, fluttering happily. In Sifnos, as in other islands, Christ Resurrected is accompanied by rains, coming from amulets and bulbs, improvised explosive devices. From Sunday, the swings are set up, an opportunity in the old days for sweet treats among the young, an opportunity nowadays for the Cultural Association of Sifnos to act, reviving this custom, as well as the burning of Judas.
Shake me high to see Artemon, to see my Keratsa boiling spaghetti.
Easter in Syros
In Syros Easter exudes a unique grandeur, which is mainly due to the joint celebration of Orthodox and Catholic Easter, regardless of the regular date of the Catholic holiday, which is one of the few occasions in the world for simultaneous celebration of Orthodox and Orthodox. The Epitaphs of the Catholics have as starting points the church of San George (Agios Georgios), in Ano Syros and the church of Evangelistria in Ermoupolis, at the same time that the Epitaphs of the Orthodox start from the parishes of Agios Nikolaos and Metaimos and after completing their walks they meet in Miaouli Square, where prayers are held. The hymns of the choir of Agios Nikolaos and the band of the Municipality, in combination with the multitude of believers that participate, create an atmosphere that is extremely all-encompassing. During the procession of the Orthodox Epitaphs, the faithful follow the litany with sticks, where a tunic, sponge and dice are hung, symbolizing the passions of Christ. In the orthodox church of the Resurrection, on the hill of Vrontados, the First Resurrection, on the morning of Holy Saturday, is announced with a pandemonium of bangs from the stalls, while in the evening of the same day, at the time of the Resurrection, the whole of Ermoupolis, the capital of the Cyclades , glows under the sparklers, which are launched from the hill of the Resurrection. After the resurrection service, the Catholics make the procession of the statue of Jesus, placed in a golden open canopy and covered with violets, lemon blossoms and lilacs, followed by the colorful banners of the various fraternities. On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, after Vespers, the burning of Judas takes place at I.N. of the Assumption of the Virgin.
Easter in Schinoussa
On this island in the Small Eastern Cyclades, on Easter day all the inhabitants gather in the central square and play "balls", a traditional game similar to bowling. The delicious stigma of the rope lilac gives it, as in the neighboring islands of Donoussa, Heraklion and Koufonissi, the stuffed lamb or goat in the oven.
Easter in Tinos
On Lazarus Saturday, the women prepare the Lazarakia, from dough braided in the shape of a plait and the children sing the carols of Lazarus. In the early hours of Good Friday and Good Saturday, the people of Tinia go in groups and light the candles in the chapels of the island. On Good Friday, in Chora of Tinos, the processions of the Epitaphs converge on the marble platform of the beach, in an all-night atmosphere. In Ysternia, children, as well as many adults, fill their pockets with red eggs and traditional cheese pies, to be blessed in the church during the Resurrection service. The cots are already set up from Sunday. In Ktikados and Kardiani, there is the custom of Love, on Easter Monday, where after the festive service, all the villagers and foreigners in the village, take part in the rich meal of Love. Finally, all the chapels of the island must be operated and resurrected, during Pentecost, ceremonies that are attended by many people from all the villages of Tinos.
Easter in Folegandros
In this island of the southern Cyclades, the custom of the procession of the icon of the Virgin Mary remains unchanged, which begins at noon on Sunday with the descent of the Virgin Mary from her temple, which is located on the hill above Chora and ends on Easter Tuesday afternoon. upon her return. During this period he has passed through all the villages of the island and has entered all the houses without exception, even the boats of Folegandria. All the routes are covered on foot, the Virgin Mary is followed by a crowd of people, while the thunder of explosives and the sounds of the bells that the children hold are not silent at all. Prayers are held at various points along the route, mainly outside chapels, while in the evenings evening and overnight are held in the churches, where the Virgin Mary spends the night. In all the houses of Folegandros without exception - except for those who mourn -, these three days there is a set table with all kinds of appetizers, drinks and sweets. The festivities give and take every night, but not in the village where the image is located. The delicious stigma of the days is given by the gingerbreads made of mizithra and local honey, as well as the pies, original individual cheese pies in the shape and size of an individual pizza. The custom of the crib has unfortunately been extinguished.
Milos, flowery Mandrakia - Kythnos, Easter pies - Andros, Maskoula - Kimolos, oversized lazaraki - Amorgos, Holy Monastery of Hozoviotissa
main photo wirestock, Image license by freepik.com
