How are the customs from greece?Please give me some information abut there customs???? Name day celebration
Most of the Greeks owe their names to a religious saint. A very important Greek tradition that takes place in the entire Greece is that everyone who has a name coming from a saint celebrated by the church celebrates his name on a given day of the year. On the 鈥渘ame day鈥?of someone, his friends and family visit him without invitation and offer their wishes (long life to you, live many years, etc鈥? as well as small presents. The hostess of the house offers pastries, sweets and hors d鈥檕euvres to the guests.
In Greece, name days are more important than birthdays
Marriage
In some parts of Greece, the bride has a dowry made by her mother, grandmothers and aunts, consisting of sheets, towels and hand made embroideries, and the father of the bride offers a furnished home to his daughter and son-in-law as a wedding gift.
Today, in Athens and other big cities, the bride doesn鈥檛 have a dowry anymore.
On the day of the wedding, the bride gets dressed, with the help of friends and women from her family, and is kept hidden, for it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony.
During the wedding ceremony, the best men and best woman (koumbaro and koumbara) give the wedding rings to the priest and cross the crowns (stephana) over each other three times and then place them on the couple鈥檚 head. During the Isaiah dance (once the priest has declared them married), the guests throw rice and almond candy wrapped with tough white sugar (ta koufeta) to the new couple.
After the ceremony, the bridal couple stays in the church and all the guests kiss them and wish them 鈥渘a zisete鈥?(long life to you). Then everybody goes to the wedding reception, which is usually a restaurant rented for the night, where they dance, eat and drink all night long.
After the reception the new couple leaves for its honeymoon
Baptism
Baptismal day is one of the most important days in the life of a Greek orthodox. Sacrament of Baptism usually occurs the first year after the baby is born. The baby is called baby and doesn鈥檛 have a name until it is baptized.
The baby is undressed and wrapped in a white towel. Then the priest blesses the water of the baptismal font and adds olive oil brought by the godparents. He then immerses the baby three times in the blessed water, saying the chosen name (usually the same as the grandmother鈥檚 or the grandfather鈥檚 name). The baby receives the sacrament from the priest who blesses the baby with 鈥渕yrrh鈥?(olive oil blessed by the Patriarch) as well as the baby鈥檚 clothes. Then, the baby is dressed with white clothes and the priest puts a gold chain with a cross on the baby鈥檚 neck and gives the baby its first Holy Communion.
At the end of the ceremony, the parents kiss the godparent鈥檚 hands and receive the guest鈥檚 wishes: 鈥渘a sas zisei鈥?(long life to your baby).
The ceremony is followed by a celebration at the family鈥檚 house or a restaurant
Carnival
In Greece, Carnival is called 鈥淎pokries鈥? it consists of two weeks of feast, beginning from the Sunday of Meat Fare and ends with the start of Lent, called 鈥淐lean Monday鈥?(Kathari Deutera). Everyone is costumed and parties in the streets and bars, throwing coloured confetti to each other. The most famous Carnival parade takes place in the city of Patra, where everybody dances and drinks all night and day.
This custom is believed to come from paganism, and more precisely from the old festivities worshiping Dionysus, the god of wine and feast
Clean Monday (Kathari Deutera)
It is the first day of the season of Lent (Saracosti) during which families go for a picnic and fly kites
Easter
Easter is the more important celebration for the Greeks, even more than Christmas.
Women dye eggs in red, godparents buy news shoes, clothes and a candle to the kids and, in villages, the exterior of the houses and the streets are whitewashed.
During Good Friday, the day of mourning, the Epitaphio, the tomb of Christ with its icon, decorated with thousands of flowers, is taken out of the church and carried away through the village or the neighbourhood (in the big cities) to the cemetery followed by a slow procession. At the cemetery everyone lights a candle for the dead; then, the Epitaphio with its procession returns to the church where the believers kiss the image of the Christ.
During the night of the Holy Saturday (Megalo Savato), everybody dresses well and goes to the church where a ceremony is hold. Just before midnight, the priest turns off all of the churches鈥?lights, symbolizing the darkness and silent of the tomb; at midnight, the priest lights a candle from the Eternal Flame, sings 鈥淐hristos Anesti鈥?(Christ arises) and offers the flame to light the candle of the people that are the closest to him. Everyone passes the flame one to another while the priests sing the Byzantine Chant Christos Anesti. Then, everyone goes out of the church to the streets. The church鈥檚 bells ring continuously and people throw fireworks. People say one to another 鈥淐hristos Anestis鈥? to which the reply to is 鈥淎lithos Anesti鈥?(indeed he has rise).
People go home and share with their families the Resurrection Meal which consists of Mayiritsa (a lamb鈥檚 entrails soup), Tsoureki (Easter cake) and Easter biscuits.
The following day, Easter Sunday, is spend in family around a meal consisting of roasted lamb (turned over open pits), various appetizers and a lot of wine and ouzo. Everybody dances and celebrates until late in the night
Greek Independence Day
The Greek Independence Day is celebrating Greece's liberation from the Ottoman domination the 25th of March 1821
28th October: The NO
During this feast the Greeks celebrate the day that Metaxas said no to the Italians who wanted to invade the country. It is the celebration of the heroic OXI (NO); most of the Greeks put a Greek flag on their windows and a march is organized by schools, where the students wear a blue and white uniform and hold Greece鈥檚 flag~ Iam unsure what you mean by customs, is it the customs at the airport? Too many to write!I think you should google it!Wikipedia too. |
