Christmas is Christmas, right? Well, not in Greece, as there are Greek Christmas traditions that are celebrated throughout the country. Even though Greeks today have embraced Father Christmas (or Saint Nick), his flying reindeer that come from the North Pole and deliver gifts every Christmas Eve based on his naughty or nice list, traditionally Christmas in Greece is completely different.
The Greek Santa
Walking through the streets during Christmas in Greece, everything will feel very homey to you. And of course you will also see the distinctive red suited figure who is Father Christmas.
Technically though in Greece, the Saint who delivers gifts is none other than Basil the Great, a.k.a Basil of Caesarea, and we call him Aghios Vasilis (meaning Saint Basil).
Based on Christian Theology, he was one of Three Hierarchs who help shaped Christianity in the 4th century. He was the patron of the week, he gave his inheritance to the poor and helped build hospitals for them. The date he is celebrated on is January the 1st, and this brings me to my next Greek Christmas Tradition …
No Gifts on Christmas Day?
Don’t get me wrong, Greeks have always loved a reason to get together with friends and family and have big dinners and feasts. Christmas day is no exception to the rule, it’s just that they don’t exchange gifts on that day. Customarily, gifts are handed out on New Year’s Day in honor of the Greek Santa, Aghios Vasilis.
Another Greek tradition celebrated on this day is the cutting of a New Year’s Cake, Vasilopita, which contains a coin or a charm. He or she who wins the slice with the coin is said to be blessed with fortune for the rest of the year.
Tradition has it that this celebration started when Saint Basil found himself with a small fortune that originally belonged to the people of Ceasarea. Since he was not in a position of knowing the rightful owners, he had buns baked, each containing a valuable item and gave them out the people.
Oh Christmas Boat, Oh Christmas Boat
By now I think you got the message that Saint Basil is the star of the Greek Christmas Traditions. However, Saint Nicholas, who is also celebrated in December could not be missing from the Greek Christmas holidays.
Traditionally Saint Nicholas is the parton of sailors in Greece, and he is honored during the whole Greek Christmas festivities by decorated boats placed where you would usually expect a Christmas tree.
In the olden day, women and children would craft decorative boats themselves. Nowadays, especially in ports and marinas you will find boats or Kaikia, as we call the traditional fishing boats, decorated with fairy lights.
Needless to say that the Christmas tree has been adopted by the majority of Greeks, but don’t be amassed if you find a Christmas tree and a Christmas boat right next to each other.
The Greek Carols
The Greek carols are called Kalanda and are quite different to the famous melodies sung worldwide, hence they might seem odd to you if you have never heard them before.
The lyrics of the carols have to do with storytelling of events that took place during the birth of Christ. These carols are accompanied by a high pitched ringing of a triangle and the roots of this tradition dates back to the Byzantine and Roman era.
They are mostly performed by children who are rewarded with money and/or sweets given to them by their parents and those who choose to open up their door to them in order to hear the carols. They are performed three times throughout the Greek Christmas holidays: Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and on the Epiphany.
Epiphany
New Year’s definitely marks the end of the year that has just passed, but is does not mark the end of Greek Christmas holidays and traditions. This is done on January 6th, the day of Epiphany, when Christ was baptized, a.k.a. Theophany of the Phota (lights). It is a major celebration throughout Christianity.
Once again children sing carols, and a special service is held near bodies of water (sea, lakes and rivers) across the country. Following the church service, the priest blesses the waters by dropping a cross into it. Young men will dive in the cold waters to retrieve the cross. He who manages to swim first to the cross, find it and return it to the priest is offered a special blessing from the priest and cash from the crowd.
The Food
Like all places in the world, Greek Christmas has its own menu. But in this case the menu changes for each region. For example the traditional dish for Kozani is stuffed cabbage whereas in Thrace there is a vegan baklava.
A few dishes that are common throughout Greece are pork, served as the first meat after an advent fast, stuffed turkey has become popular in recent years, mulled wine or raki with honey is sipped, and of course the New Year’s cake I mentioned earlier is served.
What definitely characterizes the Greek Christmas food are two special cookies: Kourabiedes and Melomakarona. Most people enjoy both, but for those who grew up in Greece it is very common to favor one over the other. Kourabiedes are buttery shortbread-like almond cookies, made with rosewater and covered in very generous layers of powdered sugar. Melomakarona are soft and syrupy, topped with walnuts and slightly gingerbread-like in flavor, but their most important ingredient is honey.
Have you ever tasted Kourabiedes or Melomakarona?
Let me know in the comments below.