When do greeks celebrate christmas

Orthodox Christians usually hand out gifts on December 19, St. Many Orthodox Christian countries use the Gregorian calendar in their day to day lives but often revert to the Julian calendar for their holy festivals. The New Year, according to the Julian calendar, is on January and the day of the Epiphany, celebrated on January 6 by Catholics, is celebrated by Orthodox Christians on January On the day of the Epiphany in the countries that adopted the Gregorian calendar like Bulgaria, and Greece, priests will often throw crucifixes in rivers or lakes which the faithful then dive into to retrieve.

This content is not available in your region. Text size Aa Aa. Find a list of our best present ideas for here. While Saint Basil is the star of the show, Saint Nicholas whose feast day is in December also has a place in Greek Christmas celebrations. The patron saint of sailors, he is honored during the whole of the holiday period with decorated boats , often found where you would expect to see a Christmas tree.

In the old days, the wives and children of sailors would craft decorative boats themselves during the holiday period. Of course, the Christmas tree has long been warmly adopted as a symbol of the holidays in Greece just as elsewhere; still, many Greeks keep up the old tradition as well, and so you will often see boats and trees side by side.

The lyrics of the songs tell Christian stories referring to the events that took place around the birth of Christ. The kalanda are performed mostly by young children, who are rewarded by their parents and those who choose to open their doors with some pocket change and sweets. On January 6 which is also a bank holiday , Greeks commemorate the baptism of Christ in the final celebration of the winter holidays, the Epiphany, also referred to as Theophany or Ta Fota The Lights.

Once again, children go door to door singing the kalanda, telling the story. Naturally, the day has also come to symbolize Holy Water, which explains the other famous customs carried out on this day.

The service of the Great Sanctification of Water is held near bodies of water across the country seas, lakes, rivers — the biggest celebration of all takes place at the port of Piraeus. Following church services, people gather by the edge of the water, which the priest blesses by casting a cross into it. Young men then dive in to retrieve it; the one who makes it through the cold water to the cross first, and returns it to the priest, is awarded with a special blessing, and often cash gifts from the crowd.

Read more about the Epiphany here. Finally, like everywhere else in the world, a big holiday like Christmas obviously comes with special treats. The kallikantzaroi are meant to appear only during the day period from Christmas to Epiphany January 6th. They are supposed to come from the middle of the earth and get into people's house through the chimney!

The kallikantzaroi do things like putting out fires and making milk go off. Having a fire burning through the twelve days of Christmas is also meant to keep the kallikantzaroi away burning old shoes is meant to be a very good way of scaring off the kallikantzaroi. Every December, in Aristotelous Square in the city of Thessaloniki which is the second biggest city Greece a huge Christmas Tree and three masted sailing ship are put up.

It's a popular tourist attraction. There are also large boat displays in other large Greek cities like Athens.

Decorated ships are an old tradition in Greece where small ships were put up in homes when sailors had returned from sea voyages. Christmas Trees are popular in Greece. The first known Christmas tree in Greece was in and was set-up by King Otto next to a large decorated boat. Over time, especially in the late 20th century, decorated Christmas trees became more popular than decorating a boat.

But now having a boat as well as a tree is becoming more popular! Going to a Midnight Mass Service is very important for most Greeks. After the service people can go home and end their Advent fast.

The main Christmas meal is often lamb or pork, roasted in an oven or over an open spit. It's often served with a spinach and cheese pie and various salads and vegetables.