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Meta: Christmas traditions all the way from Greece.
Greece, famed throughout the world, as the home to Achilles, Hera and of course, the Battle of Troy. The famed wonder of the Ancient World and the source of numerous mythological and legendary tales that have graced Hollywood screens for quite some time, so we here at the SirHoliday decided to delve into how exactly this wonder of history celebrate Christmas.
During Christmas in Greece, families like to keep a fire burning throughout the night in order to keep away nasty little goblins. These meddling little creatures come from the center of our world and enter our realm through the portal of fireplaces; these goblins have a delightfully sinister name known as Killantzaroi. These tiny little rascals can do everything from ride on your backs to braid horse’s tails.
Fishing boats are often decorated with Christmas lights and festive ornaments throughout the month of December; this is twofold as Saint Nicholas is thought to help rescue the ships from bad seas. On Christmas Eve many children, very often the young boys, go out into the streets to sing the Greek version of carols – known as Kalanda.
They may even bring along musical instruments such as drums and triangles to play while they sing, a very ancient custom amongst the Greek children is to carry a model boat that is decorated with nuts and spray painted in gold in order to bring good luck for the following year. Children who sing well or are very entertaining are often given presents such as candy or nuts by the locals, although let’s just face it who wouldn’t want to give a bunch of children candy for singing Christmas Carols? That’s probably why they’re so eager to do it after all.
Another important event on Christmas Eve is of course the Midnight Mass observed by many, after which they go home to reward themselves after their Advent Fast. And what a feast it will be, you can expect anything from Baklava, the well-known favorite of phyllo pastry, nuts, cinnamon and honey, it is actually perfect for the Advent Fast as it contains no eggs which may not be consumed whatsoever during the Advent fast and it is also dairy free. Therefore, your vegan friends and family will also be free to indulge with you on this feast.
This will be accompanied with fabulous array of pork dishes, and of course elaborately homemade bread known as the Christ bread or the christopsomo; the large family-sized loaves are sweet and normally decorated so as to indicate what the chief profession of the family is.
One of the most visited tourist attractions in Greece throughout Christmas time is in Thessaloniki, this city in Greece has a square where an enormous Christmas tree is set up every year and a three mast sailing ship that is fully strewn with Christmas lights. This tourist attraction takes place in the Aristotelous Square. Probably the most interesting part of a Greek Christmas is that their children only receive presents on the first of January from Saint Basil.
For all your holiday information and more, be sure to visit SirHoliday today.
Greece landscape:
https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/08/12/00/01/oia-416136_960_720.jpg
Fireplace:
https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/03/27/13/33/blaze-2178749_960_720.jpg
Boat with lights
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