EASTER IN GREECE 2NT PRIMARY OF IALISOS
Greek Easter See What Easter in Greece is Like
The celebration of Greek Orthodox Easter is filled with rich and colorful Easter traditions, including the decorating of the epitaphios, building bonfires, shooting off fireworks at midnight, and enjoying a feast of lamb.
Images of Easter in Greece
• St. Tito's church is in the heart of Heraklion.
Everyone comes to the church to help decorate the "epitaphios" or "Bier of Christ". Often, the volunteers stay almost all night.
The finished decorations are placed on the wooden epitaphios, which will be carried through the streets in a grand procession.
Chandelier in the Cathedral
• Brilliant chandeliers make the cavernous interior of the cathedral bright as day.
Lighting Candles
• Everyone lights a candle. Nearby, an attendant allows them to burn for a few moments, then whisks them away to make room for more.
A family prepares for tonight's bonfire
Judas effigy and scaffolding
• Look closely - in the center of the picture is the gallows erected for the Judas effigy, which will be burned at midnight.
Burning the Judas Effigy
• At the same instant the sacred bonfire is lit, the fire to burn the hanging effigy of Judas also erupts.
Greek Easter Fireworks • Greek Easter fireworks erupt at midnight to celebrate the resurrection of Christ
Carrying home the flame • Candles are lit from the sacred bonfire and carefully carried back home. The fire is believed to protect the household for the coming year, a vestige of ancient practices.
EASTER IN GREECE
Easter Recipes • "Lamb" (or goat on the islands) is the traditional Easter meat served throughout Greece, although how it’s cooked varies from region to region. Spit-roast lamb, which originated in Roumeli, is now the prevalent tradition, but many areas preserve their distinctive way of preparing the Easter dish. On many islands– including Andros, Samos, Naxos, and Rhodes–lamb is stuffed with rice and herbs, then baked in the oven.
Easter Bread •
The rich, festive breads we enjoy in early spring are steeped in history, folklore, and symbolism. Originally baked as a tribute to the end of winter's sparse fare and later associated with the celebrations that followed periods of religious fasting, Easter's light, yeast-risen loaves are abundantly laden with luxurious ingredients, such as cheese, almonds, candied citrus peel, and precious spices like cinnamon and saffron. The approach to holiday bread baking is one that sanctions us to lavish the loaves with extra care. Easter breads are customarily decorated with colored eggs, drizzled with icing, studded with bits of candied and dried fruit, divided into ropes of dough and elaborately braided into rounds, or stuffed with rich fillings. While the ancient meanings surrounding the ingredients and design of these celebratory breads are based on Easter and springtime traditions, the magnificent loaves that result, with their fine crumb and sweet flavor, are treats that can be savored throughout the year.
Tsoureki- koulouria • There are many other delicacies included in the Paschal feast depending on the region of Greece. Included in these are cheese pittes, regional fresh cheeses and yogurt served with honey.τhe sweets include special tsoureki and of course, the koulouria tis Lambris (Paschal cookies).
XRISTOS ANESTI •
Following 40 days of fasting, the traditional Pascha meal is abanquet of meat, eggs and other long - forbidden animal products. Cheese, eggs, and richly scented breads play an important part on the table, but the meal is always centered around meat.On Easter Sunday celebration begins early in the morning with the cracking of red eggs and an outdoor feast of roast lamb followed by dancing.
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The Easter table reflects the culinary differences around Greece. Recipes have evolved based on the lie of the land, on what is available place by place, and on the tastes and origins of local populations. • "Mageiritsa" made almost universally from any variety of chopped, sauteed innards, herbs and lettuce, and bound with avgolemono, the country's well-known egg-and-lemon sauce-is not the dish of choice with which to break the fast.
• One of the nicest Greek customs is the use of "red eggs" for the Easter celebration Greeks mainly color eggs red (scarlet) to signify the blood of Christ. They use hard-boiled eggs, painted red on Holy Thursday. People rap their eggs against their friends' eggs and the owner of the last uncracked egg is considered lucky.
Easter eggs from different countries Traditional easter eggs in Croatia
Czech easter eggs
Drapanka POLAND
American Easter Eggs
Easter eggs from France
Foil-wrapped chocolate Easter eggs.
Happy Easter in 64 languages!!!! • • • • • •
Afrikaans Geseënde Paasfees Albanian Gëzuar Pashkët Arabic صح سعيد ْ ِف Aromanian Ti multsã-anji Pashtili! Hristolunye! - Dealihea cà-nye! Basque Ondo izan Bazko garaian Breton Pask Seder
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Bulgarian честит Великден (čestit Velikden) Chinese(Cantonese) (Fuhkwuhtjit faailohk) Chinese(Mandarin) (fùhuójié kuàilè) Catalan Bona Pasqua Cornish Pask Lowen Croatian Sretan Uskrs
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Czech Veselé Velikonoce Danish God påske Dutch Vrolijk Pasen, Zalige paasdagen, Zalig Pasen Esperanto Feliĉan Paskon Estonian Häid lihavõttepühi Finnish Hyvää pääsiäistä
• French Joyeuses Pâques • Gaelic(Irish) Cáisc Shona Dhuit/Dhaoibh, Beannachtaí na Cásca • Gaelic(Manx) Caisht sonney dhyt • Gaelic(Scottish) A' Chàisg sona • Galician Boas Pascuas • Georgian (gilocʻav(tʻ) aġdgomas)ქრისტე აღდგა (kʻriste aġdga)
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German Frohe Ostern German (Swiss) schöni Oschtere Greek Καλό Πάσχα (Kaló Páskha) Hebrew (chag pascha same'ach) חג פסחא שמח Hindi शभ ु ईस्टर (śubh īsṭar) Hungarian Kellemes Húsvéti Ünnepeket Icelandic Gleðilega páska
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Italian Buona Pasqua Indonesian Selamat Paskah Japanese (īsutā omedetō) Jèrriais Jouaiyeux Pâques Korean (haengpoghan puhwarchǒri toesikir) Latin Prospera Pascha sit
• Latvian Priecīgas Lieldienas • Lithuanian Su Šventom Velykom • Maltese L-Għid it-tajjeb • Marathi शभ ु ईस्टर (śubh īsṭar) • Norwegian God påske • Persian عيد پاک مبارک
• Polish Wesołych Świąt Wielkanocnych • Portuguese Boa Páscoa, Páscoa Feliz, Feliz Páscoa • Punjabi ਈਸਟਰ ਖੁਿਸ਼ਯਾੰਵਾਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ (īsṭar khuśyāṅvālā hove) • Romanian Paşte fericit • Russian С праздником Пасхи (S prazdinkom Pasxi • Scots Happy Whissunday
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Serbian Срећан Ускрс (Srećan Yskrs) Sicilian Bona Pasqua Slovak Milostiplné prežitie Veľkonočných sviatkov Slovenian Vesele velikonočne praznike Spanish Felices Pascuas Swahili Heri kwa sikukuu ya Pasaka
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Swedish Glad Påsk Tagalog Maligayang pasko ng pagkabuhay Thai สุขสันต์วันอีสเตอร์ (Suk-səntwən īs-toer) Tigrinya (rHus bˋal fesika (ygberelka))
• Ukrainian З Великодніми святами (Z Velykodnimy svjatamy) • Volapük Lesustanazäli yofik • Welsh Pasg Hapus • Yoruba Eku odun ajinde
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2N PR IA F O RY CE A EE IM GR SO LI S
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RHODES 2010