| Christmas Traditions in Greece |
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| The people in Greece regard St. Nicholas as the patron saint of sailors. The Greek tradition has it that due to his hard work of going against the waves to rescue sinking ships from the angry sea his clothes are drenched with brine, his beard drips with seawater, and his face is covered with perspiration. All Greek ships have an icon of St. Nicholas. | |
One can find small boys beating drums and singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve in Greece. The children go from house to house singing Christmas carols and in return are given dried figs, almonds, walnuts, lots of sweets and other small Christmas gifts.
The people in Greece observe a 40 days fast. The adults and children look forward to the Christmas feast with great anticipation. Every table on Christmas has ‘’ Christ Bread” also called the christopsomo as a Christmas feast. This bread is made in large loaves into various shapes and the crusts are decorated in a way that reflects the family profession.
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Although Christmas trees are not a common Christmas tradition in Greece. The most important symbol for the Christmas celebrations in Greece is the shallow wooden bowl with a piece of wire.
Another important Christmas tradition in Greece is the kallikantzeri. It is believed that this is the time when mischievous goblins appear from the earth. This usually comes 12 days during the Christmas celebrations.
The people in Greece believe in giving small gifts to hospitals and orphanages. It is believed that sometimes-bad spirits may be hiding in people’s houses. In order to get rid of these bad spirits priests go from house to house sprinkling holy water.
On Christmas Eve people gather to have the Christmas feast. The Christmas feast includes figs dried on rooftops served with spicy golden Chrisopsomo bread.
1st January known as the St. Basil’s Day beautiful people exchange gifts on this day. The evergreen trees are decorated with tinsel and star.
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