SUMMER 2024 STARTS HERE
Typically, the tourist season starts in Greece at Easter. Well, Greek Orthodox Easter anyway. Here in Greece we work to the old fashion Julian calendar rather than the more globally used Gregorian one. That means Easter in Greece falls later than in most of the rest of the world. Technically it all depends on the date of the first full moon after the Jewish celebration of Passover, which is the festival that caused Christ to be in Jerusalem before the crucifixion. More practically in 2024 it falls on Sunday May 5th, whilst Easter Sunday elsewhere is March 31st.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ORTHODOXY
The Orthodox church was founded following the Pentecost, by Christ’s apostles. Two interesting Greek words here – ‘orthodox’ means ‘right opinion’ and Pentecost means ‘fifty’. Traditionally the church was founded 50 days after Passover when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, and they found themselves speaking in foreign tongues so that they could go abroad and spread the word.
AS SURE AS EGGS IS RED
In family terms Greek orthodox Easter is rather like Thanksgiving in America – people tend to go back to their hometowns and villages and celebrate with their families. There are processions, feasts of spit-roast lamb, and flamboyant fireworks. And, of course, the traditional smashing of hard-boiled eggs that have been painted red to symbolise the blood of Christ and the cracking of his tomb for the resurrection. In Athens the celebrations are quite a spectacle.
TO CORINTH, IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAUL
St. Paul was one of the first apostles to travel to Greece, arriving in 50 CE and settling in the important provincial capital of Corinth, working as a tentmaker. He preached the Gospel to both the locals and the large Jewish community, in total visiting Corinth three times. The legacy of his Letters to the Corinthians are examples of some of the finest early scriptures. The history of Corinth goes back way beyond that and the site has been occupied since 6,500 BCE. It was a place of great strategic importance throughout the bronze ages, was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BCE, then rebuilt by Julius Caesar around 51 CE.
ENJOY A TWO-CENTRE EASTER BREAK
If you’re interested in Christianity, or religion at large for that matter, the great thing about Corinth is its proximity to Athens. That makes it easy to come for all the excitement of Easter in our wonderful capital and then drive east for just over an hour and visit both the ruins of old Corinth and the new city for a perfect two centre holiday. Or add more interesting Christian sites and make a week or two of it.
If you think and Easter with a difference would be interesting, why not take advantage of our egg-celent service?
YOUR INBOUND AGENT FOR ALL THINGS GREEK
For more information about our wide range of holidays & trips in Greece get in touch with our experienced team on our contact us page.
Or by calling +(30) 21620 20021.
