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The
customs and traditions of Cyprus and Cypriots, there are many
Cypriot traditions that are now lost in the towns, but clearly
eident in the vilages.
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Easter || Death || Christmas & New Year || Trades || Entertainment || Family || Clothing || Superstitions & Folklore ||Weddings|| Children's Games || Baptism |
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Information about Saint's, Monasteries & Icons Saint's |
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Greek customs and habits from a foreigner's point of view Explorecrete.com Christmas Customs Christmas customs of Cyprus & Greece marycy.org Greekspider.com Greekamericanmall.com Santa Clause & Christmas Cake. Basil is the English name for Vassilis. Cyprus Santa is not St Nicholas, but St. Vassilis, New Years day is the day of Agios Vasilis bellaonline.com On New Year’s Day they used to throw olive leaves in the fire (phoucou) to see if a someone loved them, if the leaf made spitting sounds, they had found love. Celebrations start on New Year's Eve It was at New Year, rather than at Christmas, that most people gave and received presents. Christmas Carols kypros.org with the baking of the traditional cake (Vasilopitta) in which a coin is hidden. The cake is cut by the head of the family on New Year's Day. One slice of the cake is always cut for Jesus Christ, one for the house and one for absent family members. The person who finds the coin is considered to be the luckiest member of the family for that year. Epiphany (Phota) 6 January Feast of the Light On this day Christ was baptised in the River Jordan symbolising the spiritual rebirth of man. On the eve of Epiphany, known as kalanda, people gather in church for the blessing of the waters, which are supposed to have held evil spirits for the past twelve days. After Mass, the priest visits all houses to cleanse them from the demons, or evil spirits, known as kalikandjiari. these demons appear on Christmas Day, and for the next 12 days and play evil tricks on people. On Epiphany Day, a celebration takes place at all seaside towns. After the Epiphany Mass the Archbishop, or one of the Bishops, leads a procession down to the sea, where a ceremonial baptism is performed. During the ceremony the leading priest throws the holy cross into the sea. Young men dive into the water to retrieve the cross, and return it to the priest. Boats sound their horns, and doves are released Carnival (Apokreo) February The first week is called the Meat Week (Kreatini), as it is the last week for eating meat before Easter. The second week is known as the cheese week (Tyrini), when cheese and other dairy products may be consumed. Green Monday, March First day of Lent Greek National Day 25th March Anniversary of Cyprus' Independence Struggle April 1st Anniversary of the start of the liberation struggle of the Greek Cypriots against British colonial rule in 1955. Procession of St Lazarus' Icon - Larnaca , April
Easter tradition of Trizo-gyra amvrosios Easter customs in Cyprus & Greece Globalgourmet.com Sfakia-crete.com ..Haef.gr(Greek) marycy.org (turn your speakers down if you don't like sites with music) Online Easter Cards kypros.org Labour Day, May 1st Anthestiria (Flower Festival), May The word Anthestiria derives from the Greek word anthos meaning flower. Every four years feasts used to be held in honour of the god Dionysos, the divine protector of the theatre. Anthestiria were also the festivals of souls, plants and flowers, celebrating the rebirth of man and nature. Pentecost, known as Kataklysmos (Festival of the Flood) takes place 50 days after Easter, and usually lasts for six days. it is the Day of the Holy Ghost. People head down to the sea front promenade to hold fairs, watch boat races and water sports and to splash each other just for the fun of it. The priest throws the cross into the water for the young boys to retrieve, like at Easter. Those on dry land indulge in some old fashioned dancing and singing songs such as tchattista, which are improvised verses sung by different parties competing with each other. By the evenings, the town is in full flow with delicious local food such as nuts, sousouko and loukoumades, washed down by traditional Cypriot wine, Commandaria. Many believe that Kataklysmos originated from ancient ceremonies in honor of Aphrodite and Adonis. The real origin has been lost in the mists of time. Is it a remembrance of the catastrophe? The festival is even named Kataklysmos and even though it is now celebrated at Pentecost, it is clear that this was an old festival that the Church Christianised. Is it a potential link with Atlantis, one of the most remarkable facts about the disappearance of Atlantis is that the “continent” slowly sank. It was the end result of a series of disasters, which include earthquakes. For more information on Atlantis philipcoppens.com Assumption August 15th Dormition of the Virgin Mary Commemorating what is believed to be the miraculous transport of Mary, in bodily form, to Heaven after her death. The story does not appear in the Bible, but is found in apocryphal stories and folklore, with written records dating back to as early as the 3rd century. Village Festivals, August - September - October The festivities usually include performances of folk music and dances, exhibitions of agricultural products, flowers, folk art, photography, painting, silverware, embroidery, the revival of village customs, etc. Panigyria/ Panegyria (Saint's Day festival) On the eve of the saint's day, villagers and street-vendors gather in the grounds of the patron saint's church and sell many different products, including local delicacies. Cyprus Independence Day, October 1st military parade in Nicosia and an open reception at the Presidential Palace in the evening. Greek National Day, Ochi Mera, October 28th Cypriot traditional costumes Traditional clothing of Cyprus Clothing Traditional costumes cyprus.gov.cy cbv.ns.ca Cypriot Costumes kypros.org Male costume ohfs.org kypros.org lyradancers.org.uk Female Costumes kypros.org lyradancers.org.uk Mandili traditional headscarves Depending on her position the village women would wear different coloured headscarves. The young pretty girls would wear bright red headscarves until their wedding day when they swapped the scarlet scarves for the more subdued shade known as xithi - which was a deep claret red. Once the woman reached the age of fifty she changed the colour of her headscarf once again to a very modest brown shade which she would wear for many years to come, except when she donned a black scarf to tell the world that sadly she had been widowed. The women usually wore large white mandilia when they were working out in the fields because the darker colours just held the heat too much, and the larger headscarves gave badly -needed shade to the face. Sometimes the women who lived in a certain area favoured a completely different colour - for example those who lived in the Morphou area often wore green headscarves. Death & burial customs B8300 BCE child's remains stonepages.com Burial customs of Roman Cyprus vuw.ac.nz Burial Rituals and the Afterlife of Ancient Greece people.uncw.edu Child bodies in acient Cyprus stanford.edu Doctoral researcher in biological and funerary archaeology ancientcyprus.ac.uk Greek Burial Pottery 2020site.org Traditional Greek Orthodox Funeral saintjohngreekorthodoxchurch.org |
Vouhes: The storage of Wheat kypros.org Traditional Trades & Occupations
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