{"id":7658,"date":"2026-04-03T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T07:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesandbox.eu\/fr\/2016\/10\/21\/greek-easter-nafplion\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:42:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T07:42:56","slug":"greek-easter-nafplion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omilo.com\/fr\/greek-easter-nafplion\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do Greeks Celebrate Easter? Greek Easter Traditions | Omilo"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Do Greeks Celebrate Easter? And what are the Greek Easter Traditions?
\n<\/strong>Greek Orthodox Easter is probably the biggest celebration of the year for most Greeks, with a lot of special traditions and family gatherings.
\nIt is also one of the reasons Omilo organizes every year a Greek Easter course.<\/a>
\nFor 26 years in a row, the Omilo-team is celebrating Easter together with students (except of the \u00ab\u00a0covid years\u00a0 in 2020 and 2021\u00a0\u00bb).
\nIf you can not be in Greece during Easter time, but you are curious, then read below what Greek Easter is about, and\/or watch some videos!<\/strong><\/p>\n

40 days before Easter – fasting period<\/h2>\n

The preparations for the Greek Easter actually start from \u201cKathara Devtera\u201d (Clean Monday)<\/a> onward.
\nAll Greeks celebrate the national holiday \u201cKathara Devtera\u201d, which is the last day of carnival and the first day of the so-called \u201cfasting period\u201d.
\nClick here and take a look at the video<\/a>, to get an idea of the typical foods for celebrating Kathara Devtera.<\/p>\n

From that day onward till Easter people might greet you with \u201ckali\u00a0sarrakosti\u201d (We wish you a nice 40 days!),<\/strong>
\nsince there are 40 days till the \u201choly week\u201d (the week before Easter Sunday).<\/p>\n

From Clean Monday till Easter Sunday children could count the 7 weeks with a traditional \u201cKuria Sarrakosti calendar<\/a>\u201d!
\n(Kathara Devtera is the first day of the so-called \u201cfasting period\u201d and the last day of Carnival.)<\/p>\n

Greek Orthodox Lent is a time of fasting, which means abstaining from foods that contain animals with red blood (meats, poultry, game)
\nand products from animals with red blood (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) and fish and seafood with backbones.
\n(The purpose of fasting is to cleanse the body as well as the spirit in preparation for accepting the Resurrection at Easter,
\nwhich is the most sacred of all observances in the Greek Orthodox faith.)<\/p>\n

The theory is one thing, but in practice most Greeks do not bother so much about \u201cfasting\u201d the entire 40 days,<\/strong>
\nHowever, most Greeks do fast one week before Easter, during the so-called \u201choly week\u201d \u00ab\u00a0megali evdomada\u00a0\u00bb !<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, for those that want to fast, and can do without eggs, milk, meat, etc\u2026 for 40 days, in every shop you will find \u201cnistissima<\/strong>\u201d,
\nthe foods you can eat during the \u201cfasting period\u201d.<\/p>\n

The \u00ab\u00a0Holy Week\u00a0\u00bb (\u03b7 \u039c\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7 \u0395\u03b2\u03b4\u03bf\u03bc\u03ac\u03b4\u03b1)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The week before Easter Sunday, the Holy Week, begins on Palm Sunday.<\/strong>
\nGreek Easter is a very special and holy time indeed! Even for non-religious Greeks or foreigners,
\nthe atmosphere is nice and it is a part of the Greek culture and traditions.<\/p>\n

There are church services everyday commemorating the last week in the life of Jesus Christ.
\nThe evening services are the most attended, except for Wednesday when the Service of the Holy Unction is held in the afternoon.
\nOn Thursday morning the service commemorates the Last Supper and the Betrayal of Christ.
\nThis is the day that the hard-boiled eggs are dyed red, signifying the blood of Christ, and the Easter bread, called tsoureki, is baked.
\nThe evening service on Thursday is a long one and features twelve gospel readings.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, people are shopping for their Easter gifts and buying their lambs of all sizes for Easter Sunday.
\nAthenians who have family-connections to the islands and villages on the mainland are preparing to leave the city, as well as people with no family ties!<\/p>\n

Good Friday (\u03b7 \u039c\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7 \u03a0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03ba\u03b5\u03c5\u03ae)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Good Friday, the figure of Christ is taken down from the cross. The epitaphios , decorated with flowers by the girls through the night, is brought into the church.
\nThe bells of the church can be heard all over and all the flags in Greece are lowered to half-mast.
\nIn the evening a \u201cfuneral service\u201d is held and at about 9pm the epitaphios is taken from the church and carried through the streets in a procession.
\nNow everybody follows the epithaphios while carrying \u201cbeige\u201d candles.<\/p>\n

On Good Friday the candlelit funeral procession takes place in every church around 20.00-21.00 h.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The procession takes place all over the town, while (some) people also sing…
\nTake a look at the Easter procession video here<\/a><\/p>\n

After the procession, the different \u00ab\u00a0epitaphia\u00a0\u00bb from various churches, are coming together on the main square of the town or village<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n