national+days,holidays+in+greece

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here you can find info about our national days in greece and how they are celebrated

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**easter** 

**Πασχαλινά αυγά! Easter eggs!**

APRIL 13, 2012
 tags: [|Easter eggs], [|easter eggs with leaf patern] , [|Πασχαλινά αυγά με φυλλαράκια] 

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Easter eggs in Greece are actual eggs (rather than chocolate ones) that we die them with different colours. On Easter Sunday we each get one of the coloured eggs. In pairs we will try and smash the other persons egg without damaging our own. The one with the egg that lasts the longest is the winner! Whilst we are playing one says to the other ” Jesus Christ has risen” and the other one replies “truly He has” whilst taking his/her turn. Traditionally we die the eggs red, although in the past few years and with a number of techniques improved technologically, we have seen everything! From every colour of the rainbow to glitter and shinny! Of course these are edible dies, as we normally eat the egg. =====

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This year and whilst in Greece for the Easter season, we died the eggs with my mum on Good Thursday (tradition has it that everyone dies them on Good Thursday). We chose to make them the way she used to do when we were little. It involves collecting leaves and cutting old tights. This is what we did in pictures! =====

“Na ste kala” (may you are well) wherever you are!
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=Greek Orthodox Easter - April 15, 2012 =

=Greek Easter Traditions & Recipes = The streets of Greece and Greek Orthodox communities throughout the world ring with happy voices sharing //Chroniá Pollá!// - Easter Wishes...
 * [[image:http://www.chiff.com/images/tsoureki.gif width="119" height="134" caption="Tsoureki recipe"]]

 **Tsoureki,** Traditonal

 Greek Easter Bread || Easter time, from the carnivals that come before the Lenten fast through[|**Holy Week**] and the celebrations of Easter, is a special season in Greece. **Greek Orthodox Easter 2012** Since the date of the Greek Orthodox Easter is based on a modified Julian calendar (while the Western world uses the Gregorian calendar), the festivities sometimes do not usually occur at the same time as other Christian Easter celebrations. In 2012, Greek Orthodox Easter is celebrated a week later than [|**Easter**]observances in the Western church this year — on Sunday, April 15, 2012 — and marked by unique traditions that make Easter in Greece different than Easter celebrations in other lands. **Greek Lenten & Easter Traditions** Greek foods and traditions mark the season as uniquely Hellenic. The history of Greece traces back far past the beginnings of Christianity, but from the very earliest days of the Christian faith the Islands of Greece and the Greek people have embraced these beliefs and made them part of the Greek heritage. Of all the Christian feast days, Easter is the greatest time for foods, feasting and celebration to people in the Greek Orthodox faith. The celebrations for Easter truly begin two months before with Mardi Gras. The Carnival or //Apokria// season starts on the Sunday of Teloni and Fariséou and ends on Shrovetide Sunday with the //Burning of the Carnival King//...setting fire to an enormous paper mache effigy of Judas in the early evening. The fireworks and feasting continue throughout the night. The next day, //Kathara Deftera or Kathari Deutera//, is known as Clean Monday or Ash Monday For Greeks, Clean Monday is one of the most festive holidays of the year. Decorated with the colorful local almond trees and mimosas bursting into bloom, nature invites children and their parents into the hills of Athens and the Greek countryside. Flying kites and feasting at local tavernas or outdoor picnics is how Lent begins in Greece. //Htapothi// Octopus and calamari or squid, prawns, //Soupies Giahni// - cuttlefish stewed in wine, rice pilaf with mussels, varieties of bean stews and salads, Lenten //dolmades// - rice stuffed grape vine leaves, //Halva// a semolina pudding, plenty of meat free salads and the once-a-year lagana, a yeastless bread, are a small portion of the unique tastes of the day accompanied by joyous music. If //Apokria//, //Kathari Deutara// and Lenten Sunday feasts are the preliminaries for Greek Easter, Holy Week is the peak of these activities. On Holy Thursday the bright dyed red eggs that are symbolic of Easter in Greece are prepared. Tradition says that the Virgin Mother, Mary, dyed eggs this color to celebrated the Resurrection of Christ and to celebrate life. Every Greek family prepares these eggs as part of the Easter Sunday Resurrection Table. Otherwise, the women in Greek families are busy baking ////koulourakia//// - butter twist cookies and //tsoureki// - traditional sweet bread for the Easter feast. On Good Friday or Great Friday, flags at homes and government buildings are set at half mast to mark the mournful day. TheProcession of the //Epitáphios// of Christ, the Ritual Lament that has survived from Homeric times, mourns the death of Christ on the Cross with the symbolic decorated coffin carried through the streets by the faithful. On Corfu, the procession of St. Spyridon is held on Easter Saturday. Holy Saturday is filled with anticipation of the religious celebration of Easter and the Resurrection. People begin to gather in the churches and squares in cities, towns and villages by 11 p.m. for the Easter services. Large white candles are carried by just about all of the faithful. At midnight the church bells toll as the priests announce //Christos Anesti!//...Christ is Risen! Fireworks are set off, in some areas gunshots are fired and the each person in the crowd answers with the joyous responses of //Alithós Anésti -// Truly He is risen. **Greek Easter - A Time for Family** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The people leave the churches and crowded squares and make their ways to homes of friends and relatives. The candles they carry are placed in each home and burn through the night to symbolize the Light returned to the world. Celebrations continue with the cracking of eggs and The Resurrection Table. The //Kokkina - pasxalina avga// - dyed red Easter eggs that are found on the Resurrection Table become pieces of a traditional game. Each person takes an egg and challengers attempt to crack each others' eggs. The breaking of the eggs is meant to symbolize Christ breaking from the Tomb. The person whose egg lasts the longest is assured good luck for the rest of the year. The traditional foods on the Resurrection Table: //hiroméri// - smoked salted pork; cheeses; ////magiritsa//// - a creamy, lemony soup made from the lamb sweetmeats; ////koulourakia//// - Greek Easter bread; //Tsoureki; Lambropsomo// and other Easter breads and plenty of [|Greek wine], retsina and ouzo insure a feast which will last throughout the night//.// After the night of feasting and celebration, everyone is still up early on Easter Sunday morning. The Easter Sunday table is prepared and the festivities continue! The Easter meal is truly a feast. Salads of beans, greens and seafood, vegetable dishes that are grilled or cooked to be served with the rice dishes, //Kokoretsi//, breads, cakes, cookies, wines, ouzo... The main dish at the Easter Table is the lamb or goat (usually kid). Served in honor of the Lamb of God who was sacrificed and rose again on Easter, a whole spiced lamb roasted over a charcoal fire is the most traditional of Greek Easter foods. The Easter Sunday celebration lasts through the day while visits are made to family and friends and the Easter feast is shared with every guest. Each person that enters the home is greeted with Gia to kaló tis iméras//!// - "For the good of the day!" with a plate of food and an invitation to join in the feast. Besides bringing insult and bad luck to a host who is rejected, the foods are so delicious...who could refuse? Easter Monday is a much more relaxed day when everyone gets ready to return to work and school. The main work of Easter Monday is to finish the foods that were not eaten the day before! //Kaló pásha// ...Happy Greek Easter!

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**Resurrection** ( [|anglicized] from Latin //resurrectio//) is the literal coming back to life of the [|dead]. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a [|Resurrection of the Dead] at the end of the world, or a resurrection of [|souls] which is current and ongoing. The resurrection of the dead is a standard [|eschatological] belief in the [|Abrahamic religions]. The [|death] and [|resurrection of Jesus] is the central focus of [|Christianity]. The term, while acceptable in certain religious and spiritual contexts, is typically not used in medical circles to describe the return to life of one who was [|clinically dead] ,[// [|citation needed] //] although rare extreme cases are properly classified scientifically as examples of the [|Lazarus syndrome], a term originating from the corresponding Biblical resurrection story.

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christmas

clean monday = //**<span style="color: #ff002e; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 170%;">May 1st **// = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit;"> ** What Happens on May Day in Greece? **  = <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">** May First is also International Workers Day, a holiday first popularized by the Soviet Union. While it has lost many of its communist associations, it still is vigorously celebrated in former Soviet-bloc countries and other places in Europe. You can expect worker's groups and unions to be active today; major strikes are sometimes scheduled for May Day. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit;">** Since May Day corresponds with the peak of the flower season, flower shows and festivals are common. The ancient Minoans are believed to have celebrated one of their two "New Year" celebrations about this time - the other was in October. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit;">** One very common commemoration is the making of a May wreath which is hung on doorways, balconies, in chapels, and many other places. Keep an eye out for them. **
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28th October, freedom from italian and german occupation in 1940 (1940-1946)

17th November, overthrow of the junta and democracy restoration (1974)

25th March, freedom from turkish occupation (1453-1821, 400 years)

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