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Christmas in the World: “Greece”.
Greece is a country of orthodox religion and, therefore, the customs are not exactly like those we do in Spain, although that does not detract, on the contrary, for the Greeks make their holidays with great splendor and joy, full of acts of great family value and affection and fun.
There are differences with ours, but we agree with so important and basic aspects of what are the holidays in terms of meals and preparations of special Christmas sweets, as well as festive events, which are not lacking.
In Greece the Christmas celebration begins on December 24 and ends on January 8, in which the 25th is celebrated the Birth of the child Jesus and on December 6 the Baptism of Jesus.
On December 24 the children appear in the streets singing songs and carols and the people who are in the houses are offering them different gifts such as fruits and desserts and, among them, the well-known sugar cookies called in Greece as kourabiédes or melomakárona which are cookies with honey, orange, cinnamon and nuts. The set of songs and carols is known by the name of the “Kalanda”.
Another special feature, which differentiates the Greeks in these holidays, are the so-called kalikántzan, which are small elves that appear by surprise and perform various pranks during all the days of the Christmas holidays.
In Greece, unlike most countries, the typical Christmas tree is not formed, which is replaced by boats that are made of wood and support their corresponding candles, where the various typical ornaments are placed in the form of balls.
The Christmas gifts are received on January 1 and the bearer of them is Saint Basil, represented by an old man with a good belly and a very good person, who was the founder of the Greek church.
Their food customs on those dates are typical and very similar to the traditional Spanish customs. Among them we can mention the popular preparation called “galopoula” which is a roast turkey stuffed with chestnuts, raisins, walnuts and almonds, accompanied with baked potatoes that is made on December 25. Also common is “gurunópulo”, another special holiday dish based on suckling pig.
However, in recent years, the presence of the Christmas tree has been gradually introduced in Greek homes.
On the first day of the year they eat “Vasilopita” which is a kind of cake, similar to the “roscones de Navidad” in Spain. On January 6, which corresponds to the Epiphany, the so-called “Feast of Lights” is celebrated and a special mass is held and the Blessing of the waters and the priest throws a cross into the water and they jump into the water to pick it up and whoever gets it will have the blessing all year long.
INFORMATIONAL DATA
Greece is a country located between Europe, Asia and Africa and with three seas on its coasts: the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
It is made up of seven archipelagos and some 1,400 islands (227 inhabited).
It is configured as a parliamentary Republic with a population census of 10,432,481 inhabitants and a territorial area of 131,957 km/2.
Its capital is Athens, with 1,500,000 inhabitants. The majority religion is Orthodox Christianity.
