January 1:         New Year's Day; St. Basil's day; cutting of the vasilopita (New Year's cake)

January 6:          Epiphany, Blessing of the Waters, both the sea and the holy water used in various ceremonies throughout the year.  A cross is thrown into the water and retrieved by young men at all harbors, including that of Korinth.

Easter:              varies from year to year and is usually later than western Easter; this is the greatest holiday of the year and ordinary work often stops for a week.   Holy Week (the week before Easter) is especially solemn, and even non-religious people usually observe the rules of fasting.  On Good Friday morning the women and girls of the village decorate the epitaphios (the bier in which the body of the dead Christ is carried throughout the village); in the evening the funeral procession winds its way through the village, all the houses are lighted, and people burn incense outside their homes.  Easter is celebrated with eating, drinking and dancing: it is a joyous time, and foreigners are welcomed into every home.

 

May 1:              May Day.Not really a religious holiday, but a secular celebration of the beginning of spring.  This is also "Labor Day" in most of the world and it is celebrated in many cities with parades, demonstrations, and speeches, sponsored most commonly by the Communist Party.  Most people go into the country (or into their gardens) and pick flowers to may a "May," or May-Day wreath, that they hang on their house.

May 21:           Saints Konstantinos and Elene (Constantine and Helen, the first Christian Emperor and his mother), celebrated at Solomos.  On "name-days" everyone with the appropriate name (i.e., people who are named after the saint) celebrates.  This normally means that they remain at home and all their friends and relatives come for a visit, usually bringing small gifts.  Many Greeks are named Konstantine (Kostas, Dino, etc.) and Helen (Elene, Lenio, Elenitsa), so you can imagine that this is a day of signficant celebration.

 

May 30:           Holy Trinity (Agia Triada), celebrated at Athika

 

June 29:            SS Peter and Paul, celebrated in New Korinth, and with a special ceremony at the Bema in the archaeological site at Ancient Korinth; do not miss this if you happen to be in Ancient Korinth at this time!!

 

July 1:               Agioi Anargyroi, SS Kosmas and Damian, the physician saints, celebrated at Anaploga and Ancient Korinth; this three-day festival is the most important in Ancient Korinth and  people come from distant places to worship and to celebrate long into the night; the main nights for the celebration are June 30 and July 1

 

August 15:        Koimesis (Dormition) of the Virgin, or more simply the Panagia.  This is an important national holiday, the last major festival of summer, and nearly everything closes and many people go away to celebrate. A major center for the festival is the island of Tinos, but locally the largest celebration is at Xylokeriza.