MV Properties celebrates Easter traditions and reveals why it is such a special time of year.
Easter time is one of MV Properties’ favourite time of the year and Greece’s most anticipated and celebrated religious event of the year.
The celebrations and preparations start seven weeks before with Sarakosti which is 40 days of fasting and ends with the Holy Week, the week before Good Friday. The seven weeks following Easter is Pemtikosti which lasts 50 days, symbolising the birth of the Christian church.
Bringing people together
It’s a wonderful time on the island and marks the start of spring on Ithaki, where local businesses get ready for the season ahead and tourists and the expat community return to the island to celebrate with family and friends and immerse themselves in the festivities.
This year was slightly different with restrictions on social gatherings and religious services. Despite this, families in the community held lowkey celebrations at home, still making the most of it.
Food glorious food!
There are some perks to being lockdown at home, and that is a lot more time to cook, bake and get busy in the kitchen. And what better way to do this, than Orthodox Easter with its food traditions!
From red eggs, magiritsa (traditional Greek soup), tsoureki (traditional sweet plaited bread) and koulourakia (Greek biscuits) to name a few, MV Properties indulged in it all.
Did you know?
Here are some fun facts about the Greek Easter traditions:
Tsougrisma is the name of the game we play on Easter Sunday with the dyed red eggs we prepared the day before. The symbolism of the red dye is the blood of Christ, the hard shell is the burial tomb and the cracking of the shell represents the resurrection.
As we play this game and tap our opponent’s egg with ours we proclaim ‘Xristos Anesti’ (Christ has risen). The aim is to crack your opponent’s egg and continue to do so with other people. Should your egg remain unscathed it means you will have good luck for the year.
The sweet, plaited yeast bread called tsoureki also represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is a treat for many on Easter Sunday who have fasted the 40 days and can be enjoyed with a dollop of butter, plain or with a cheeky spreading of Nutella.
Magiritsa is a soup and traditionally breaks the fast after 40 days. There are hundreds of versions of magiritsa depending on region, family recipe and personal preference.
At MV Properties we wish our community, friends, family and clients health and happiness in the year to come. May next year allow us to celebrate together.
Xristos Anesti
Until next month,
Melanie
