e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

This project took place in the eTwinning action of the eLearning program of the European Committee and we present the results of the eTwinning of the students of 2nd Technical School of New Smyrni- and the students of ICES LEON HUREZ La Louviere – Belgium, with title "Culture and Traditions of our Homeland", in the school year 2004-2005. This project is dedicated to the students and the teachers who worked on it and made it a success.

If all the children of the earth were holding hands boys and girls in line and started dancing the circle would be so big that they would embrace the earth.

If all the children of the earth were inviting the adults so they would leave their offices, and join the dance the circle would be even bigger that they would embrace twice the earth.

Then the birds would join then, and all the flowers too the spring would come and dance as well and the circle would be so big that they would embrace three times our earth!

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Index Page 1. So... we are e-Twins! 3 2. Presentation of our Project 3 3. Traditions 4 3.1. Religion traditions 4 3.1.1.Greek Christmas 4 3.1.2. Greek Carnival 16 3.1.3. Greek 23 3.1.4. Other Traditions 32 3.2. Social life traditions 34 3.2.1. Birth 34 3.2.2. Marriage 38 3.2.3. Death 43 3.3. Special Traditions 43 4. Culture 47 4.1. Music and songs 47 4.2. Folklore dance 48 4.3. Theater 50 4.4. Traditional Art 53 5. Conclusions 58 6. We wish to thank… 59

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

1. So... we are e-Twins! eTwinning is the main action of the European Commission's eLearning Program. This new initiative takes the concept of school partnerships to a new level. It envisions European school partnership running over an extended period involving a large number of teachers, school managers and support staff at multiple levels and in multiple subject areas. eTwinning is a way schools to work across national borders to harvest pedagogical, social and cultural benefits. two schools from two different countries form a partnership to work together on common projects and share ideas and experiences. They link up with each other mainly using the Internet and new information and communication technologies, but also organize exchanges to meet. eTwinning develops and reinforces networking and learning among schools. It brings a collaborative way of working into the curriculum and provides an opportunity for young Europeans to learn about each other’s cultural and social life and to improve their language skills. Visit the http://www.eTwinning.net to learn more!

2. Presentation of our Project The e-Twinning project of our schools started on March 7th, 2005. We are two groups of students, one from Belgium and one from Greece and we work with the support of our teachers, Mr. Maurice Medici and Miss Vassiliki Niarrou. Our schools are the 2nd Technical School of Nea Smyrni - Greece & the ICES LEON HUREZ La Louviere - Belgium. The subject of our project is "Culture and Traditions of my Homeland" and it intends to help us to exchange information about culture and traditions of our countries and by this, getting familiar with each other's civilization and comprehend the ways of everyday life. Besides the differences or the similarities we are going to discover in each country's traditions, we realize that culture is a common wealth for all humanity. Except exchanging information about culture and traditions of both countries, we will get familiar with a foreign language (English) and

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland develop communication skills, collaboration, responsibility and consistency of programming, research, gathering and evaluating sources and knowledge. Here is a plan of what we do in our project: 1. Collect material (text, photos, etc): Research on traditions: • Religion related traditions (Christmas, carnival, Easter, etc) • Social life traditions (birth, marriage, death, etc) • Special traditions (for good luck, fertility, etc) Research on culture: • Music, folklore dances and songs, theater, art, etc. 2. Create PowerPoint presentations 3. Exhibition of our project at our schools 4. Create a website in Greek and in English http://2tee-n- smyrn.att.sch.gr

3. Traditions

3.1. Religion traditions

3.1.1 Greek Christmas

The twelve days of Christmas (Christmas, New Year's day and Epiphany)

Christmas Traditions Christmas, a winter celebration, is one of the most important periods of everyday life here in Greece. Preparations start on November 15th and, yes, there is another 40 days period of fasting, but now days, only few people keep it. During all this time, you can see Christmas decorations in the streets, and shops, and houses, everywhere! Christmas trees with flashing lights, Christmas cookies, Christmas cards, all these things that brink joy to everyone. And this festive times will last until January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany. Christmas in Greece is a traditionally a solemn, religious holiday.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Let's see the most known traditions of this period:

December 24th - Christmas On Christmas Eve opens the customary circle of the twelve - days period, when groups of children sing the carols, starting with the narration of the Birth of Christ, continuing with praises for the house and its owners and ending with lines for a rich tip and cookies. These beautiful carols called "kalanda" have been handed down from Byzantine times and add to the reverent quality of the celebration. Children use metal triangles, hitting them with metal sticks while singing. Gifts and cards are exchanged during all Christmas season, but specially on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus brinks children's presents! And like every year, it's time for Christmas cookies: "" and "melomacarona". We decorate the Christmas tree, although is some islands people decorate small boats since we are seafaring people.

Kalikatzari One of the most magical feasts during the twelve days of Christmas is the appearance of the goblins. These are demonic (dark) earth spirits who appear during the holidays to make the lives of people difficult. The derivation of their Greek name - kalikantzaroi - is subject to debate. What is certain is that the "kali" (good) prefix is meant to appease and curry

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland favor with the spirits. Another name for elves, "pagana" is derived from the word "pagono", or idolater. The goblins live all year beneath the earth and gnaw at the tree, which holds it up. When the Christmas holidays bring feasting merriment, preparations and nice smells, they emerge out of curiosity or an interest in participating and get in the way of the affairs of humans. During Theophany, when the bless the waters, and the birth of light is fact, they return to the earth. The tree they were gnawing at has, in the meantime, grown and they have to return to their task anew. The truth is that goblins are more annoying than dangerous. They hide in cool ashes in the hearth, and that is why the fire must not be put out during the entire twelve days. They steal freshly baked or fried sausages. They soil freshly cleaned clothes and freshly ground flour and confuse women when they are darning clothes. This is why one should not labor or wander out alone during this period! If a goblin should find you alone in the street he might get you to dance until your legs cannot keep you up anymore.

It is not known if goblins ever really frightened people but the shape they were given and the things they did were more amusing than dangerous. One example is the familiar goblin "Psilovelonis" ("thin needle"). He is very long and thin and dark with long fingers and tail. He is so thin that he can squeeze in through cracks and keyholes. Another familiar goblin is Mandrakoukos: the leader. Mandrakoukos Zimaromitis ("the dough-nosed") holds a shepherd's crook as a scepter and wanders among the sheepfolds and shepherds' trails. He knits his own cap from pig hairs and it is not long enough to cover his ears which are the same size as a donkey's. He also has a large nose which hangs like soft dough. Mandrakoukos throws a hook down a chimney and steals sausages from the fire, or he teases . Another goblin is Anemis, the Kopsomesitis (thin-waisted). He has a very thin and long waist and his upper body turns round and round like a spinning top. He gets caught in the warp of the loom and breaks the thread that is being spun. The goblin Tragopodis (" footed") looks like the god Pan. He is hairy with the legs and tail of a goat and he is very bothersome. He steals pastry and soils foodstuffs if they are left uncovered. Vervezou, the Trimouri Tzoghia, with the three faces, keeps alive the three-faced goddess Hecate. As in antiquity, Greek housewives in more recent times left a plate of food with cookies or sausages for her on the edges of their roofs. In any

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland case, people preferred not having anything to do with goblins. With various spells, plants and other wiles they kept them at a distance from their homes. Goblins cannot stand bad smells. Thus, people occasionally burned an old piece of footwear to keep them away. Goblins also do not like noise and crowds so what better to do than for people to gather in their homes? They kept the fires going and sang, danced, drank and ate the food before the goblins could get to them. There are plants that keep goblins away and bring good luck in the New Year. One of these is chamoilios (or ververida, also known as Carlina corymbosa or greacea). This is a small thorn with a bright yellow flower like a little sun. It is like the sun that is being born and keeps the goblins at bay with its strength. When goblins see it in homes they sing: "They have chamoilion here, the house is safe." People also hung wreaths of wild asparagus decorated with cyclamen leaves.

The feeding of tap The midnight of eve of Christmas, in the villages of Central Greece, an old tradition takes place, the "feeding of tap". The girls of village, few hours before the day of Christmas, go to the taps of village and with and , with the wish as runs the water runs also the prosperity in the house in the new year and as sweet is the honey, thus sweet it is also their life. With this movement they take from the tap "speechless" water. In order to have a good harvest they brought in the tap butter, , or cooked wheat or legumes and attended they reach there as much as possible earlier, because, as they said, whoever would go first to the tap, this would also stand luckiest entire the by year's. Returning in the house, the women, they brought new water, after they had empty from their barrels the old. This process of passage and return from the tap, happens silently - for this and was named speechless water. With ' speechless ' water women rain their houses, for robustness and good luck.

Brunches in the fireplace In the Thessaly, the young girls and boys, returning in the house from the church, they place on fireplace, small brunches of cedar usually, that represent their personal wishes. The first that will be burned, it represents good omens for his holder. Concretely, they believe that the one that his brunch was burned first, he will be also first that will be wedded.

Christoksilo Precursor of Christmas tree is Christoksilo or Dodekameritis, a fat timber from pear-tree or cedar. The horns of the trees, at the popular perception, they remove the demonic beings, as the goblins. Our ancestors placed the Christoksilo in fireplace of house the eve of Christmas. The ash of timbers protected the house and the fields from each villain. When Christoksilo burns, Christ is worm in His crib. Christoksilo was replaced by the

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Christmas tree, which from Germany expanded also and rooted in the other European countries. In the villages of northern Greece, from the eves of feasts the landlord searches in the fields and chooses most beautiful, most robust, the fattest timber from pine or and him goes his house. This is named Christoksilo and it is the timber that it will burn for all the Dodekaimero (12 days) of feasts (from the Christmas until Theofania) in the fireplace of house. Before the landlord brings the Christoksilo, each housewife cleans the house and with particular attention the fireplace, so that does not remain any trace from the old ash. They clean even the chimney; in order the goblins not find steps to go down. Thus the evening of eve of Christmas, when all the family is gathered round the fireplace, the landlord of house turns on the new fire and enters the Christoksilo.

Christopsomo - Christ's Bread Christ Bread was once the centerpiece of traditional Greek Christmas tables, as were large quantities of dried figs, nuts and honey. Baked with the highest quality ingredients (including rosewater, honey, sesame, and roses) housewives used knives or forks to decorate the bread with symbols that represented the main occupation of the household. The plentiful use of grains and nuts as symbols of fertility and good harvest is reminiscent of the ancient Kronia festivals (similar to Roman Saturnalia) held in Attica in honor of Cronus, the god of the harvest.

The Christmas bread is made from the women with particular care and patience. Making it is a ritual. They use expensive materials, flour, rosewater, honey, sesame, cinnamon and carnations, saying: "The Christ is given birth, the light goes up, the bread goes up too". In the surface of bread they draw forms with the knife or with the fork, as flowers, leaves, fruits, birds. This decoration stresses the aim Christopsomo and expresses the expectations for good harvest and production of animals. For the Christmas table, the Christopsomo is blessed bread. They cut it the day of Christmas, giving a lot of wishes. The custom of Christopsomo is maintained in many parts of Greece and mainly in . Constitutes a habit deep rooted. Locally, we meet it in variants of forms or names as: "the bread of Christ", "Crosses", "vlahes" and many more.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Christmas Tree and Christmas Boats The decoration of Christmas tree is the substance of Christmas. This custom has foreign origins. For first time was embellished tree in the palaces of Othon in 1833 and afterwards in Athens. From the 2nd world war and afterwards the tree with the colorful balls, entered all the Greek houses. According to a other delivery, the decoration of tree was established by the Martin Luther, who, walking the night in the forests and seeing the stars shining, it conceived the idea of placement of luminous tree in his house, that would portray the starful sky the night where the Christ came in the world. However in certain parts of Greece, as in the Lesvos, the Christmas tree it is not from fir but from a brunch of olive tree, which is embellished with golden oranges, and various games. Many times instead of a tree, people, especially in island decorate miniature boats.

Special traditions

The Momogeri In the village Platania of Drama we meet the custom of Momogeri, which emanates from Native of the Pont refugees. The name of custom emanates from the words mimic or momos and is connected with the mimic movements of protagonists. These, wearing leathers of animals, ex. wolves, or other - or dressed with uniforms of persons armed, they have the form of old persons. The Momogeri are presented at all the duration of the 12 days feasts, and expecting chance for the New Year, they turn in companies in the streets of villages and sing kalanta. When two companies meet each other, they pretend to have war between them, until a team overcomes the other and it declares subjugation.

Kolinta mpampo In Pella revives the custom of "Kolinta mpampo" that has relation with the slaughter of Irodi's. The residents of region turn on the evening of 23

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

December fires shouting "Kolinta mpampo" that is to say "slaughter, grand mother ". According to the residents, this evening the king Irodis ordered the slaughter of all male infants under the age of 2 years, so that it is not in danger from the . The fire informs the residents they are protected not only from the king, but also from the villain.

The colonies In the Cephalonia, as well as in the other islands of Eptanisa, Corfu, Zakynthos etc. their residents have a good time with their own separate way, the saint days of Dodekaimero. The persons celebrate going to the church, eating, drinking, singing, but also making jokes the one in the other. The eve of New Year's day, the evening, the residents of island full joy for the coming of the new year, they go down in the streets keeping bottles with Colognes and rain one another singing.

Mpoumpousaria or Ragoutsaria Mpoumpousaria or Ragoutsaria are named in Macedonia the carnivals that become the New Year's Day and Theofania.

"Diet traditions" In different parts of Greece we have different customs. In Zagori, Epirus for example, at Christmas Day the make the "spargana". These are and they symbolize the covers of Christ in the crib. The housewife makes the Christmas (it's a kind of bread), which usually is round, and it's a symbol of the big feast.

At Christmas we eat roasted stuffed turkey or roasted pork meat. Though nowadays turkey takes pride of place as the main meat dish of the Christmas feast, it was tradition - ask any elderly Greek to tell you how the

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland village homes once smelled of smoke and pig fat - to slaughter a pig for the Christmas feast. Again this custom is reminiscent of the ancient Greek and Roman practice of sacrificing of a pig in honor of Cronus around the time of the winter solstice.

New Year's Traditions

The Custom Of Cutting Of New Year's Cake - "Vassilipita" None of the annual customs is continued so infrangibly by the (all over the world), and has not so deep roots through the years, as the New Year's Cake. Because always, the hidden coin (flouri) represents the fluke of luck, which shows the fortunate of the New Year. Truly, Greeks, as members of a family, a fellowship or a society of organized people, do not celebrate the coming of the New Year without the cutting of the Vassilopita. If nowadays in many occasions, we have geared the vassilopita according to the bourgeois habits and facts of a consumer society, and if we have transformed it into a big, sweet, deluxe cake (and the solution is a confectionery), there are still Greek housewives, who insist on making the vassilopita using the traditional way. A traditional recipe that is thought from mother to daughter continues through the years. In the collective conscience of our nation, the vassilopita, sweet or salty, with sugar or meat, refers to a new year's symbol with great attributes, not only revelation, but also determinative for the luck of the people, the animals and the possessions of the Greek family. Cause then, even the way of making it, would also assure the good year. Such beliefs can hardly be lifted from the soul of the nation. All the exceptional properties, which have been ascribed to the vassilopita, conduced so that its preparation turns to a symbolic ritual accompanied by actions of magic. In Selinio, Chania (Crete), for instance, vassilopita was blended with oil, sugar and , symbols of the cornucopia of the family goods. As soon as the housewife had laid the vassilopita into the baking tin, slashed a cross at the top of it, using a fork, intending to exorcize the bad spirits. Using the same ingredients sugar and spice, people in Kidonies prepared the vassilopita. Furthermore, they used to slash it with strange shapes, using a key, intending to lock the gossips and bad words. They also used a finger shield, symbol of neatness, to fill the blankets with figures, so that the women remain strong and capable. Sweet vassilopita was made mainly in urban areas, but also in many agricultural districts of our country. The ingredients used to be the same. There was just a variety through the regions and families, which concerned the way of its decoration, the "letters" as they used to say. Piece of finery made by dough, each of them was corresponding to a wish, a desire or an appetence. So, the farmer's wife was "marking" on the vassilopita the grub hook, the animals, the aristae so that St.Vassilios bless them and give his grace for a rich crop. Equally did shepherd's wife. She was "marking" the sheepfold, the sheep, the dogs, the churns of milk. The vine grower's wife was "marking" the

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland billets, the barrel, the winepress and whatever her heart desired, that the kind St. Vassilios should bless. The traditional vassilopita that was made along the coast of Minor Asia had a remarkable appearance and taste. It looked like a big gristly biscuit, with a double-headed eagle placed in the middle of it, expressing the intimate desire and wish, for a national resurrection of the Byzantine Empire. In Constantinople, the vassilopita was sweet, fluffy and scented with spice. In the middle of it, a big V was graven, representing the capital letter of St.Vassilios, or the capital letter of the Goodman's name and around the cake, embroidery was graven using a pair of scissors, that referred to birds with wide-open wings. The most usual traditional New Year's cake was the salty vassilopita, which was made with many flakes and was filled with meat, and its decoration couldn't hide the intimate wishes and the deepest symbolism. Furthermore, there were no margins for finery, cause the top and the bottom of the vassilopita was filled with well- buttered flakes, which in various regions were called "petara". The external flaky, appreciably bigger, was flapped wavy, so that the cake's surface would be impressive, wavy, expressing the wish for cornucopia of the family's goods, like the wave of the wide sea. In the salty vassilopita, the wishes and the symbolisms were mainly expressed by "marks" (except the traditional coin "flouri") that the housewife would hide at the base of the cake. So, for example, the tradition in Epirus demanded a vassilopita stuffed with chicken, lamb mince or whole peaces of pork, mixed with frumenty, and eggs. Aside from the coin (flouri), there were other "signs" too, according to the job of the family members, such as a little stick for the shepherd, a pine cone for the woodcutter, a straw for the farmer, a cross for the house, or some fruits such as wheat, or corn, and whatever people desired. In west Macedonia and Thrace, when the father of the family had to divide the property to the sons, St. Vassilios used to "take care" of the division. In the big cake, the "signs" weren't put for the wish but for the "division". The pieces of the vassilopita were called "kisses". The son in whose "kiss" was the coin (flouri) hidden, would own the house. The bean corresponded to a field, the vine stick to the vineyard, the straw to the animals etc. But also the cutting of the vassilopita was a real ritual. Firstly the father of the family had to rotate the cake three times on the name of trinity. Afterwards he passed a key, a knife or a fork above the cake in the shape of the cross, in order to "stop" the gossip, the bad thoughts and to deter the effects of envy. On the coming of the New Year, he cut the cake into pieces and named each of them, in an established turn. The first piece destined for St. Vassilios. The second for Christ and Mother, the third for the house, and the rest for the members of the family starting from the oldest. There was also a piece of cake dedicated to the poor, the animal, the fields and the vineyard, the mill and the boat, because everything had to be blessed by St. Vassilios. As soon as the festive board was finished, the father went to the neat house to feed the animals the piece of cake. He also cut a piece of cake into small pieces and threw them over the fields. In other regions, such as Karpathos and Skiros,

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland a second vassilopita was blended, dedicated to the big animals (home- maker's valuable collaborators), called "vouopita" (ox pie), which was given to the animals the first day of the year. In Chasia, a second cake was made for the sake of the shepherd. After the family had cut the vassilopita, in the midnight, the men used to cut the shepherd's vassilopita in the sheepfold, a procedure who turned to a funny revel full of songs, dance and laughter till the morning. In that cake the coin (flouri) had no meaning. Instead of the coin, a little stick was put, called "mantri" (sheepfold), considered to be something holy. The man who would find the stick, had to bury it somewhere in the sheepfold, where no man or animal could step on it. In Siatista, the tradition included two New Year's . A sweet and a salty one. The sweet cake was cut when the year changed so that it would bring sweet days to the family and the salty one that contained the silver coin, the "gift", was cut at the festive board on the first day of the year. The lucky one who found the hidden coin, had to light a candle for the good of the whole family. That cake also contained a little cross, consisted of unseasoned branches, which brought happiness and health. The question is where we have to look for the roots of this special custom … the cutting of the New Year's Cake? The Greek nation is a carrier and a creator of a marvelous civilization, which is irrigated from the ancient Greek past and Christian Byzantium. That's why all the customs have an ancient Greek and Christian explanation, which comes not only from ancient Greece, bur also from Christian Byzantium.

According to the Greek tradition, the New Year's Cake has been established as a custom of the celebration of St. Vassilios, on the first day of the year, because of the following event: Beforetime, in Kapadokia where St. Vassilios lived in the capacity of abbacy, the land suffered from a death famine and the people suffered from malnutrition. But that didn't seem to be a problem for the tough eparch Elbinios, who was demanding to get the taxes in any way, even by threatening the people with raid and sack of Caesarea. Then St. Vassilios appealed to each one of the citizens to offer a piece of jeweler, preparative to entice the eparch, and save their home and lives. A whole treasure had been gathered indeed! Thereafter, St. Vassilios met the tough eparch and using his suave manners, narrated

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland the tragedy of his people. He also mentioned that the law-abiding citizens were willing to pay the taxes even doing without their heirloom and precious jeweler. St. Vassilios, smoothed up with palaver the soul of the eparch and abated his anger, so that the eparch remitted the taxes, and gave back the treasure. But what would anyone own? How could St. Vassilios give back that entire jewel? The idea that he had, could give the solution. He gave to each family a cake, in which a jewel was hidden. The rest was God's business. Since then, the New Year's Cake has been established as a custom, that indicates the lucky one of the year. On the other side, the folklorists are still searching the ancient Greek roots of the custom. Cause as we know, in the past, people around the world after learning the way of making flour, needed to dedicate small pieces of bred (as an offer) to the spirits of nature. That's why the folklorists detect the roots of the custom of vassilopita, through the "festive bread" that ancient Greeks, offered to the Gods, during every big moment of their lives. For example, every Athenian soldier had to dedicate to Ares, the god of war, three pieces of bread, before he lived for the war. The first one was a wish to win in the battle. The second one was a wish to come back home and the third one was a wish, to come back healthy and able in body and mind. These were also given, as an offer, to Artemis the goddess of hunting, to Demeter the goddess of earth and nature. The Romans adopted the habits of Greeks, and they started making their own pie, as an offer to Saturn, the god of fertility. They were the first to establish the coin in the pie, as a sign of health and luck. They also used to put a little piece of papyrus in the cake, which could give the freedom to the slave who would find it. Folklorists also say that the best pies were made by the habitants of Byzantium, who blended the pie, using yeast, eggs, grease and sugar. The decoration consisted of a dough cross, and the monograms of Christ and Mother. So vassilopita, became the most characteristic custom of the new Year's day for the Greeks, starting as an ancient habit (offer to the gods), afterwards as a habit of the Romans, and at the end as a Christian habit in the Byzantium, which was conjunct to St. Vassilios whose memory is celebrated on the first day of the New Year. In Thrace, people used to put a cross made of two sticks or toothpicks in the cake. Families who owned buffaloes, (black animals such as cows), used to put in the vassilopita a piece of charcoal. All these signs weren't put in the cake, but at the base of it.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Good luck traditions and New year's day signs On New Year's Day the householders used to take a with them to church and when they came back home, they would crack it on the doorstep, so as the seeds disperse and bring good luck and abundance.

On this day, people would open the doors of their house only to the relatives they considered to be lucky. That's the tradition of "podadiko". The word comes from the Greek word for foot that is "podi". The first that steps his (or her) foot into the house in New year's day, has to be a lucky person and brink good luck to everyone in the house for the whole year. If the weather is good on New Year’s Day and have sunshine, then we say the weather is going to be good for 40 days. If however the weather is not good', according to the traditions, for forty days we will have harsh winter. A plant with which we adorn our homes these days for good luck and protection is the (Scilla maritima). From the 6th century B.C., Pythagoras used to hang over his door as a sign of good health and rebirth. Even when they are forgotten in some corner of the house, these plants grow leaves during this season, and begin their life cycle anew. Like the light reborn at the winter solstice, it sends us wishes for happy holidays and health in the New Year. The night of New Year's day, in the villages of Chalkidiki, the tap of village should have been open, so as to runs the good chance all the year, as water. The snow is considered good mark and symbolize happiness and was a sign for one good year, like the phrase "white day, white time" (that means good times). The clean sky the morning of New Year's day meant clean year, that is to say year without illnesses. In the they consider good sign north wind blows north on New Year's day. Also considering good mark if comes in their courtyard a pigeon this day. In certain villages when they are washed the morning of New Year's day, they touch upon their face with a piece of iron, in order to be strong as iron. With the New Year's day are connected a lot of preventions. This day we avoid paying debt, money, work or they give fire. 'All these' begin from

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland the preventive thought: what makes and suffers one this day will continue happening all the time.

Epiphany Traditions - The Holy water rites On January 6th we celebrate the Baptism of Christ. We call this day Epiphany. In Greece we have two different words for this day: "Theofania" and "Fota". "Theofania" (theos is the Greek word for God), because during the baptism the three parts of the Holy Trinity appeared (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). "Fota" (the Greek word for light), because the Christians, who were baptized all together on this day, were enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Nowadays there is a special ceremony for the blessing of the water. In ports, rivers and water tanks people gather around and our priests throw the Holy Cross in the water. Young swimmer dive into the cold water and vie who will catch the Holy Cross first so as to give it back to the and take the blessing of the church. On Epiphany's Eve the priests of the parishes visit our houses and sprinkle then with holy water. The blessing of the church comes to our houses.

3.1.2. Greek Carnival The Greek Carnival has its roots in ancient Greece. It is connected with the worship of Dionysus, God of wine and celebration. The word "carnival" actually comes from the Latin "carnem levare", or "carnis levamen", which means, "the discontinuation of eating meat". In Greek the word used is "apokria" and it means the same. This popular tradition stems from the pagan rites of the ancient Greeks and the festivals of Dionysus, god of wine and merrymaking. People would disguise themselves as satyrs or wear masks and pour into the streets and

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland neighborhoods behaving "inappropriately" with risqué phrases and actions. This served the purpose of allowing the free expression of erotic thoughts while hiding their true identity behind masks. This tradition eventually spread to other parts of the world through the Roman Empire and the discovery of the New World. However, the pagan practices were so deeply rooted that they were not completely abolished. Later, when Christianism appeared, even though people stopped worshipping the Gods of Olympus the Greek's' habit of getting dressed up and of celebrating in the streets remained. Once a year, at around this time, carnivals take place in various cities and towns of our country. In fact, it's a three-week Carnival period, which begins 60 days before Easter. It's called The Triodion. The word comes from "tris odes" that means the three that we use to say at Churches. It starts the first Sunday, which is referred to the Gospel of "Telonis and Farisaios". The second Sunday, to the Gospel of "The Rebel Son". The third is the "Meat Eating Sunday" (Apokria) and the last Sunday of Carnival, during which, celebrations and festivities reach a climax, is the "Cheese Eating Sunday" (Tirofagou). The end of Carnival is on next day's dawn: the first day of Lent, which is Clean Monday (Ash Monday). During all this time, parties and festivities are organized everywhere and people have a great time, especially children. Both adults and children are dressed up with funny costumes, they dance, sing and watch Carnival Parades and other activities, organized by municipalities of almost every town in Greece. During this time we have some very special traditions:

Saturdays of the Souls Going back to the ancient Greeks, this was also a time of celebration of the anticipation of spring. Ironically, these celebration-involved rituals dedicated both to a "new life" (the budding of trees, vineyards, flowers, etc.) as well as to the souls of the dead, which were believed to ascend to the "upper world" around the 1st of March. With the beginning of the Church tried to subdue the pagan practices and replace them with Christian practices. Hence, during this period we find the practice of having special liturgies and memorial services on three Saturdays of the Souls where people take boiled wheat (koliva) to church and divide it among the congregation afterwards in memory of their loved ones. These Saturdays are the two Saturdays before "Meat Eating Sunday" and "Cheese Eating Sunday" and the first Saturday after Ash Monday (Saints Theodoroi's day, don't forget this day, there is an old tradition about guessing who you are going to married too. Put some wheat under your pillow and prey to Saints Theodoroi to revile you your future husband in a dream…). Tsiknopempti Tsiknopempti is an annual rite whose origin is lost through the centuries. It is a day of meat eating. The word Tsiknopempti comes from two other words 'tsikna' (the smell of burnt and grilled meat) and 'Pempti' (Thursday

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland in Greek) and is celebrated on the Thursday, which is 11 days before Clean Monday. It is a day of joy and also preparation for Greek Orthodox Christians, as the 40-day period of Lent prior to Easter approaches. In some places in Greece, especially in countryside of Peloponissos, the week of Tsiknopempti, people butcher their pigs and prepare delicious mezedes: "pixti", "omatia", "tsigarides", sausages, etc.

Gaitanaki The old custom of Gaitanaki is taking place in the central square of many towns. Is a dance where dancers, dressed up with traditional costumes, dance in a circle holding multicolor ribbons secured on the top of a long stick which is in the middle of the circle. As they dance, the ribbons are wrapped round the stick and then unwrapped. Believe us, it is very difficult to do it right!

Vlaxikos Gamos It's the revival of the Vlacha's Wedding. Vlacha is the woman who lives in the village and her main occupation is being a shepherdess. Nowadays, it is two men who pretend to be the happy couple. The wedding starts with the couple, accompanied by "relatives", going to the central square of the town. All people participating are dressed in traditional costumes. After the arrival of the couple, accompanied by traditional music played on traditional instruments, the wedding ceremony is held, with a "priest" and a "best man". The celebration continues with live traditional music, singing, local food and wine.

The Bourboulia The Bourboulia, is one of the oldest (1872 aprox.) and most popular events of the Carnival at the city of Patras, where the biggest Carnival Parade in Greece, takes place. All residents of the area, together with other revelers from all over Greece or from abroad, participate in the fun. In the old times, women couldn't go out at night and have fun during carnival

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland celebrations. The Bourboulia gave women the opportunity to participate in this Carnival Ball. They had to wear black dominoes (a kind of black dress with a hood) as well as a mask, while men were uncovered and normally dressed. In this way, women couldn't be recognized, and thus had the opportunity to flirt. Of course, nowadays things have changed, but the Bourboulia Ball still retains its magic.

Boules and Janissary Every town in Greece has it's own special tradition. Most of the times it's the same scenario, only the names change. For example, disguised people, so that they would not to be recognized, are going around the city teasing and provoking everyone. This tradition takes place at Patras with "Boules": that were disguised people who instead of a mask smeared their face with ash. Another example comes from the town of Naoussa. During the days of carnival, townspeople relive the traditional custom called "BOULAS" and that of the "JANISSARY" - GENITSAROS. There is a parade with traditional and satirical costumes. The history of the dance group goes back to 1705. In that year the people of Naoussa honored the memory of their young fellow-citizens, who fell in the struggle against the Turks. They appear during carnival dressed in the uniforms of the freedom fighters with wax masks and breastplates made out of thousands of silver coins. The costumes, the music and the dances are all-authentic and have been handed down from generation to generation without any modern influences. The dance troupes, accompanied by the town band, dance in the streets and in many of the taverns, where they are treated to the local wine, apples and other food. These events begin in the morning and continue until late into the night.

Armirokouloura Are you single? What a fine opportunity to find out who you are going to get married too. The night before "Cheese Eating Sunday", mix flour, (a lot of salt) and water and bake it. This is "armirokouloura" that means very salty bread. Then eat it. Yes, is very salty but in your dreams your future husband is going to brink you water… If you don't see any dreams, don't worry; Greek traditions will give you many opportunities to find out who the lucky one will be (see Saints Theodoroi's day) …

Cheese Eating Sunday People in fancy dresses go out in the streets, accompanied by the music of municipal bands. It's the day of the Carnival Parade! The parade is made up of groups of people in disguise, floats, and dancers. The themes of each of the floats in the procession are different and most all make fun in rhyming verse of situations and events depicting the politics and life of Greek society in general as well as other international events. These satirical verses and the performers' costume amuse a lot the spectators. In 19

e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland the later afternoon hours you will find the last event-taking place. The people will gather in a central square for food, drink and dance. This is the end of the Parade. The final event will be the burning of the Carnival King in a big bonfire as everyone dances around it. Some times there are just fires called "fani", and people sing satirical songs and dance traditional dances. The songs usually have many sexual implies and among the dances are some with theatrical character, where some male dancers, pretend to be women. Carnival Parades take place in many cities, towns and villages in Greece, and are very spectacular. Some of the biggest parades take place in Athens (Rendi carnival), Xanthi, Patras. In fact, Patras Carnival is the most well known in Greece.

Patras Carnival The Patras Carnival is a continuous meeting of myth with reality, imagination and creation over the years. It is one of the most important events, not only in the city's own area, but in the country as a whole. Carnival period in Patras, independently of the date of beginning of the Triodium, starts the day after the celebration of St. Antonios (January the 18th). The most important elements (records) concerning the course of the Patras Carnival are drawn from recent investigations, which sent us back to the 19th century. But the turning point for the Carnival in taking the form that it has today was in 1966, with the introduction of the "Treasure Hunt Game". The Treasure Hunt Game, ever since 1966 when it first appeared, until today, has turned the anonymous participant into the leading person of the Carnival. The talent of the thousands of young people, who participate with their groups every year, is opened out in all its glory through Patras Carnival. The "Treasure Hunt Game" is a series of questions, riddles and activities, which turn out to be a head spinner for the "contestants". The members of the groups take part in pantomime, mixed spectacle, theatre, dance, creations and quizzes. Fantasy, talent, multiformity, laughter, variety and liveliness come together to add something special to the Patras Carnival each year. And then, Grand Parade comes. This is the greatest moment of the Patras Carnival. The whole town, plus more than 300.000 visitors move to the rhythms the participants (more than 30.000) impose, and floats (hundreds of them) with the Carnival King lead you to the paths of high spirit, merry making and freedom from care. What happens in Patras, on the last Sunday of Carnival, is the pinnacle of the pyramid, which the

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Patras Carnival has been built on every year. The parade starts some time after noon with high spirit, dancing and participants, while those taking part in the 'Treasure Hunt Game' write their own history in their own way in the streets of Patras. Right after the completion of the Grand Parade, in a unique night of its own, the King of Carnival will bid farewell to the lovers of the kind, while making a rendezvous for next year. It is the moment when the King of Carnival will be given to the pyre and the sky of Patras will be filled with light and color. Meanwhile, dancing liveliness won't stop, as the thousands of participants will goon living in frenzied rhythms till dawn. Assistants of the Patras Carnival are groups, associations and services giving a certain product. The Carnival Committee, the Chocolate throwers Club, the Treasure hunt crews and many other participants with genuine carnival spirit, play theatrical performances, street theatre and quizzes.

Clean Monday (Ash Monday) Finally, "Triodion" ends. It's the first day of Lent, it is Clean Monday. People are gathering for the last festivities. Live traditional music, singing, dancing, seafood, , wine, and everyone is invited to the celebration. The traditional bread "" is available this day in the bakeries. We are not supposed to eat meat or even , but this doesn't stop us from having a lot of fan. People usually go to countryside this day. And the most spectacular tradition is the fly of the kites. The sky is full of colorful kites, flying high like birds, welcoming spring… In Athens, people gather to the top of the hills of the city (Filopappou, Strefi, Lykabetus) where they fly the kites, and there is always live music with popular singers, traditional and modern, and everybody dances!

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Diet traditions "Meat Eating Sunday" is supposed to be the last day we can eat red meat. The week between "Meat Eating Sunday" and "Cheese Eating Sunday" is the time to eat fish, cheese, milk and eggs. Even some traditional satirical songs carry out the theme of bidding goodbye to "Cheese" (Tyros) and welcoming in the "Onion" and the "Leek". (All this, of course, in reference to the coming fast where the "lowly" vegetable will now take over as the main course.) In central Peloponnesian Greece, in the region of Arcadia, there is the tradition of eating what is called "tyrozoumi", a soupy of wild greens heavily garnished with chunks of cheese. This serves as a first course and everyone at the table is expected to partake of it after first raising the table with their hands three times. Following this is the main course of macaroni sprinkled with lots of cheese. During the course of the evening the unmarried young people are supposed to "steal" a piece of macaroni and place it under their pillow that night in order to see through their dreams, who they will marry. The Vlach communities of the mountainous regions of central Greece make traditional "galatopites" (milk pies), cheese pies, or pies with "trahana", a homemade meal of wheat flour or cracked wheat-all of course, made with homemade phyllo. On the island of Karpathos tradition has it that everyone is invited to the home of the mayor where a large buffet is laid out with fish and dairy products. Special sweets made with mizithra are also served as well as and a special drink called "sitaka" spiced with butter and honey. An interesting tradition comes from the islands of Kea and Milos where the food remnants from the feast of Cheese Fare Sunday are left on the table until the following morning just in case "the ghost of the house" gets hungry during the night. Another tradition of Cheese Fare Sunday worth mentioning is the practice of ending the evening meal with eggs. The eggs can either be boiled or even baked in the hearth. In some areas of Greece, members of the family put their eggs close to the embers in the hearth to bake and wait to see whose egg will "sweat" first. This is a sign that he or she will have a good year. But the symbolism behind this tradition is that one "seals" his mouth with an egg just as he will open his mouth with an egg on Easter. This refers to the tradition of cracking red dyed eggs with one another after the Service of Resurrection and repeating the phrase "Christ is risen" until everyone's egg gets cracked. The egg is then consumed and is usually the first thing eaten after the Easter midnight liturgy. There is another old custom in Kastoria called "haskaris": an egg is tied to the end of a rolling-pin "klosti" and this is passed swiftly from mouth to mouth. The person who succeeds in grabbing it is the winner. Clean Monday has it's own diet traditions. Greeks usually eat particular types of seafood, such as octopus, squid, and shrimp; an array of pickled vegetables, especially pickled small green peppers, carrots and cauliflower, , and dips that seem especially made for the day's unique flatbread, lagana. The dips are Lenten, such as taramosalata (made with fish roe).

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So… Carnival ends… and Lent starts and we have 40 days to Easter… Don't forget! You are not supposed to wash your hear the week between "Meat Eating Sunday" and "Cheese Eating Sunday"! It's cheese week and your hear will turn as white as cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!

3.1.3. Greek Easter Easter is the biggest celebration of the Orthodox Christians and the one richest in folklore. The word "Pascha", Easter in Greek, stems from the Jewish "Pasah" which means "Passover". Jewish people celebrated "Pasah" to commemorate their liberation from the Egyptians and the passage of the Red sea, while Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ the Savior and the passage from death to life. The corresponding Greek word for "Pascha" is "Lambri" (Brightness) because the day of the resurrection of Christ is a day full of joy and exhilaration. Easter is a moveable holiday. Its celebration falls on the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox. Easter is by far the holiest of Greek holidays, but it is also the most joyous, a celebration of spring, of rebirth in its literal as well as figurative sense. Greeks leave the cities in droves to spend Easter in the countryside, usually in their own ancestral villages.

Lent The 40 days of Lent, starting on Clean Monday, are the preparation period for Easter. During this period people prepare themselves for the Holly Day of Resurrection of Christ, the Greek Orthodox "Pascha". The 40 days of fasting are an exercise for both body and soul. Many traditions related to this period give a very special character to Greek Easter. When we were small children, we used to paint the Lent as a Lady with 7 feet and no mouth, symbolized the fasting period where no meat, milk, eggs or fish could be eaten and some times not even olive oil on Wednesdays and Fridays. At the end of every week, we cut a foot and the last foot is for the Holly Week.

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The only day that we are aloud to eat fish is March 25th, the day that Angel Gabriel announced to Virgin Mary that She is going to give birth to Christ. This day is also a National celebration in Greece because this day on 1821 Greeks started war for independence from Turks. Independently of the date that we celebrate "Pascha", the Lent has a part during March and we say, "March is never absent from the Lent". This phrase is used for people who try to be present at every important happening.

During the Lent no weddings are performed at churches.

Saturday of Lazarus

The last day of the Lent is the Saturday of Lazarus. Lazarus was a very good friend of Christ and his resurrection by Christ was a sign for His own Resurrection after a week. This day, in some villages, women bake small breads with the shape of human body, the "" and children go from house to house, singing about Lazarus and his resurrection. On Friday before Saturday of Lazarus, school is closed for two weeks!

Holy Week (Megali Evdomada)

Palm Sunday (Kyriaki ton Vaion or Vaioforos) is the start of the . In the morning, all churches offer palm leaves reminding the triumphal entering of Christ in Jerusalem

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland before the Passion. We are aloud to eat fish. Just to find the strength to continue the fasting for another 6 days. The afternoon of Palm Sunday and every afternoon of the Holy Week, people go to churches to attend the "Akolouthia tou Nymfiou", special liturgy.

Holy Monday (Megali Deftera) We start shopping for the goods we are going to prepare the next days. The lamp, the eggs, etc. In the evening we all go to churches.

Holy Tuesday (Megali Triti) Preparations start and fasting goes on. In the evening at churches we listen the of Kassiani.

Holy Wednesday (Megali Tetarti) On , the service of Holy Unction is performed while the faithful kneel before the priests anointed with the Holy Oil to receive forgiveness. In the evening, at churches, the center of the ceremonies and services is the "Washing of the Disciples' Feet" that takes place at many areas. For example, at the island of Patmos, a platform is set up in the square of the main town, which is always crowded for the occasion. During

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland the ceremony, which lasts about an hour and a half, the Bishop, who "plays the part" of Christ, washes the feet of twelve monks -the Disciples- in imitation of the action of Christ before His Crucifixion.

Holy Thursday (Megali Pempti) The preparations for the celebration of the Resurrection start on Holy Thursday. On that day housewives traditionally prepare tsourekia (sweet buns resembling brioche), avgokouloura (cookies with flour and eggs), ouzou (cookies with flour and the drink ouzo) and color eggs with special red dyes. Ever since antiquity the egg symbolizes the renewal of life and the red color symbolizes the blood of Christ. In the past, people used to place the first red egg on the stand of the house in order to cast out evil spirits. In some villages they used to mark the head and the back of small lambs with the red dye used for the dyeing of the eggs. They also used to keep one of the big round Holy Thursday loaves at the icon stand in order to protect the members of the family from spells.

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On the morning of Holy Thursday, groups of children visit all the neighborhoods of the town, carrying baskets, singing and collecting flowers to decorate the bier of Christ. The procession takes place in the early morning hours, after the Crucifixion rite, after which it is also customary for women to stay in church to sing the traditional laments. In the evening at churches, the service of the Twelve Gospels and the enactment of Christ's Crucifixion are taking place. The faithful offer wreaths to Him. Holy Friday (Megali Paraskvi) Friday is the most sacred day of the Holy Week, the day of the culmination of the passion of Christ with the deposition from the cross and Christ's burial. In Greece shops and every kind of services are closed until 12 o'clock, the end of "Apokathilosi" that is the Mourning procession that starts early in the morning carrying an effigy of the body of Jesus (Epitaph). During the representation of the removal of the body of Christ from the Cross, it is sprayed with rose petals and placed on the Holy Altar. All day church bells rink with a mourning sound. Because it is a day of mourning, housewives do not do any house chores, avoiding even cooking. Women and children go to church to decorate the Epitaph (Bier of Christ) with flowers they collect or buy. The Lamentations are chanted in the evening, followed by the exodus of the Epitaphs carried in procession through the streets of every village after three rounds in the churchyard. Some times, in big villages or towns with more than one church, Epitaphs gather in the main square and all people and priests chant Lamentations.

Holy Saturday (Megalo Savato) On , a morning prayerful is performed. The priests dressed in white scatter balm leaves and rose petals while church bells ring happily and chanters hymn in praise of Lord. At many areas the custom of 'the earthquake' is carried out. This is a re-enactment of the earthquake that took place after the Resurrection, as described in the Bible. The congregation beats the pews rhythmically, while outside chaos reigns, with gunfire, firecrackers and fireworks. This is a part of the 'First Resurrection' ceremony. Another custom is to close the doors of the

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland church, and the priest, having made three circuits of the church while chanting, kicks open the central door and enters, singing the psalm "Arate pilas" that means open the gates. Another special tradition of First Resurrection is the 'Pot Throwing' custom that takes place at some Ionian islands, especially Corfu. Local people throw pots out of their windows, smashing them onto the streets below. Some times pots are filled with water to make a louder crash. They also hang a red cloth to their windows (red is the color of resurrection). Also in Corfu, the custom of the 'mastelas' (washtub) has been revived. A half-barrel decorated with myrtle and ribbons, is filled with water, and passers-by are invited to throw coins into it for good luck. When the first bell sounds for the Resurrection, someone jumps into the barrel and collects up the money. In old times the diver was not a volunteer but an unsuspecting passer-by, thrown in against his will. Late in the evening, at 11 o'clock, everybody gathers in the churchyard. All over Greece the ceremony takes place on a platform outside the church. Everyone holds a candle, which will be lit from the holy flame. Before midnight all lights of each church are turned off and the priest appears at the Royal Door offering the Holy Light to everyone's candle. He says "defte lavete fos" that means come and take the Holy Light. This unique flame comes directly from the Holy Grave of Christ in Jerusalem and it lights miraculously without any human involvement. An airplane goes to Jerusalem to brink the Holy Light to Greece. Once people receive the light, at midnight exactly, the Priest takes the holy icon of resurrection and steps on the special platform outside the church. The Second Resurrection happens and as soon as the priest says 'Christos Anesti' that means Christ is risen, a huge and magnificent bonfire starts. Everyone shakes hands and wishes a Happy Easter to everyone around them and the so-called "Kiss of Love". It is considered lucky to reach home with your candle still alight! With the "Holy Light" of the candles people thrice make the sign of the cross on the doorpost over the front door of their houses for good luck.

When the family is back from church, is time to sit around the festively laid table and try one of the oldest , crack red eggs. Every member of the family has their own egg and tries to break the eggs of the

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland other members of the family. Whoever's egg breaks all the other eggs without breaking will have a good luck all year round. Preparations for the festive dinner of the night of the Resurrection start on Easter Saturday morning and housewives cook the traditional "mageiritsa" (a strong tasteful soup made of innards and aromatic herbs).

Holy Sunday or Easter Sunday (Kiriaki tou Pascha or Lampri or Paschalia)

On Easter Sunday morning, in many parts of the country lamb is prepared on the spit. In other regions, the meat for the Easter table - lamb or kid - is roasted in the oven. There is a festive atmosphere everywhere and people eat and dance usually until late into the night. Many people fast for the 40 days of Lent and the final week is a very strict fast, no meat or even olive oil! So this day is dedicated to eating! Nothing is wasted from the Easter lamp, even the intestines, liver, lungs, lights and kidneys are packed with herbs and roasted to form a huge called '' the wine flows freely and don't be surprised if you are invited to join in the celebrations. Families exchange visits from one house to another, bringing egges, "kokoretsi" and cookies. On the afternoon of Easter Sunday "Second Resurrection" takes place, at which the Gospel of the Resurrection is read in seven languages. This is the "Service of Love" and expresses the fact that the message of Christ's Resurrection transmits its redemptive Power to the people of the world. Later in the afternoon, in many places, the custom is to burn an effigy of Judas. The young people make an effigy of Judas out of old rags, put into its hands the price of betrayal (a bag containing 30 pebbles) and hang it in the courtyard until the rags catch fire and go up in flames. The festivities continue with dancing, singing and eating! People crack red-dyed eggs one against the other and stick the shell on doors or throw it into the garden to bless the harvest.

"New Week" (Evdomada Diakenissimou) The week following Easter is called "Evdomada Diakenissimou" that means new week. The days are called accordingly (national

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland holiday in Greece), , etc. It is a very holy time and many events take place.

On Easter Monday take place at many areas. Early in the morning, after the services, each church brings out its standard and its Cross. In other places the main icon of each church is placed in another church for a period of time, during which daily prayer services are held. If Easter is celebrated after the April 23rd, then the Easter Monday is dedicated to Saint George, a beloved Saint for all Greeks. Many festivals take place on his memory and if his day that is the April 23rd, is during the Lent or the Holy Week, that no celebration can be performed, is moved on Easter Monday. A nice tradition of Saint George's day is horse-riding races. On Easter Tuesday an old tradition says that we have to light candles at three churches of countryside for good luck and health. Although Wednesday is considered not a good day for weddings, Easter Wednesday is the day that aged couples choose to get married. On the Friday after Easter the celebration of the Source of Life (Zoodohos Pigi) occurs, and festivals take place in many areas. During this time people go to liturgies and burn their Easter candles for three times. After that they can leave them to church or keep them near the of their house. The New Week ends on Easter Sunday, the Sunday of Apostle Tomas. Next day school is opened… "Analipsi" and "Pentikosti" 40 days after Easter is the "Analipsi" or the return of Christ to Heaven. People stop saying "Christos Anesti" during prayers. An old tradition of this day is to take the first swim of the year to the nearest sea. Or just put feet on the seawater for good health. 50 days after Easter is the "Pentikosti", the day that Holy Ghost came to the Apostles. Is always Sunday. The Saturday before, is the forth Saturday of the souls (the three first where at the end of Carnival and the begging of

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Lent). The Monday after is dedicated to Holy Triad (national holiday in Greece). During these three days many festivals take place in many areas.

Diet traditions

The "traditional" Easter table varies regionally, although all over the country it mirrors that same age-old wisdom that nothing should be wasted. If one has fasted for 40 long days, abstaining from meats and dairy products, then the notion of savoring every last morsel is even more important. Cheese, eggs, and richly scented breads play an important part on the table, but the meal is always centered around meat. On the mainland, generally, lamb is the meat of choice. In the islands, especially in the Aegean, it is goat. Those heroic feasts so many of us are familiar with lamb roasted whole on the spit, in other words-are really a custom of Roumeli (Central mainland Greece) and the Pelopponese alone. The practice has been adopted in other regions moistly because it is fun. In the Aegean, local cooks still abide by their own age-old traditions. In islands such as Andros, Samos, Ikaria, Lesvos, and , the custom is to stuff a whole side of goat and bring it to the village baker early on Easter Sunday. The stuffing vary slightly from place to place, but more or less include rice, any available fresh herbs, from and fennel to more esoteric herbs such as balm and poppy leaves, sometimes nuts and raisins, and sometimes the liver or other innards from the lamb or goat. The Easter table everywhere in Greece is supposed to be as lavish and filling as possible, even though the Fast itself is broken with a few, very specific foods. After 40 days of abstaining from all animal products, it

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland would be very difficult indulge in a huge feast without first, well, warming up to it. In the Greek tradition that means a small meal after the midnight Mass on Saturday night. The most widely engrained tradition is to make and serve mageiritsa, a lemony lamb soup made mostly with the animal's , and lots of fresh lettuce and dill. The midnight meal also includes the traditional Easter bread and hard-boiled red-dyed eggs. Off the islands and onto the mainland, especially in Thessaly and Macedonia, people show a pronounced appetite for offal in every shape and form. A local specialty in Thessaly is lamb's cauls stuffed with innards and herbs and baked in sauce. Farther north, in parts of Macedonia, where much of the local population emigrated from Asia Minor, another dish made with caul fat is called . There, it is filled with sweetbreads and liver, rice and herbs. A similar dish, called trimma, may also be found in Epirus, over the Pindus Mountains, in northwestern Greece. There, ample eggs, liver, sorrel (one of the many local wild greens), breadcrumbs, and cheese make up the filling. By far, though, the best-known offal specialty of the Greek Easter table is kokkoretsi, a medley of skewered innards wrapped tightly in intestine, doused with lemon, and either spit-roasted or baked.

3.1.4. Other Traditions

St. Fanourios Have you ever lost something important to you, so important that you prayed to find it? St. Fanourios (the one who reveals) will help you to find it. It's an old tradition to ask something from the Saint and when our prayers have answered, we make a special pie called "fanouropitta" (St. Fanourio's pie) and we brink it to church to say thank you to the Saint who helped us. This pie is made of odd number of ingredients (7, 9 or 11) and has to be cut to 40 pieces and given to people the same day we made it. All the paintings have the Saint with a lighten candle his hand.

St. John The Baptist On June the 24th is the day we celebrate St. John The Baptist. The evening before, tradition says that we light big fires in squares and people dance and sing traditional songs and jump over the fires for good luck.

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St. John's day is called "klidonas". After jumping over the fire, young single women, take an empty vase and fill it with water from three natural springs, they put into the vase a peace of jewellery and cover it with a white cloth. As soon as they fill the vase, they have to remain silent until they are back from the springs. That's why we call it the "silent water" (amilito nero). Early on St. John The Baptist day, they open the vase and they take the first jewellery out. The woman, who owns the jewellery, is the one who is going to get married first.

Summer's Easter: Death (sleep) of Virgin Mary, Christ's Mother On August the 15th, is one of the most holy days and religious celebrations in Greece. Is the day we celebrate the sleep of Christ's Mother. We say, "sleep" because when Virgin Mary or "Panagia" (the most saint) died, Christ took her with Him, in Heaven, both body and soul. In Greece, Virgin Mary considered to be "mother" of every one who suffers, is the protector of our nation.

People are fasting for 15 days, from August the 1st until 14th. The 14th of August people go to churches and women and children decorate an Epitaph with flowers just like we do on Easter. Lamentations dedicated to

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Virgin Mary are chanted in the evening, followed by the exodus of the Epitaphs carried in procession through the streets of every village after three rounds in the churchyard. August's 15th is a big celebration. Is a national holiday and as it is in the heart of summer, people go to the countryside, special in the islands, to participate traditional festivities, including, dancing, singing and eating. Islands like Tinos and Paros are famous for the miraculous icons of Virgin Mary and hundreds of thousands of people come this day to pray to Virgin Mary for a miracle. Apart from many traditions for miracles of Virgin Mary, there is a great number of names given to Virgin Mary. In many places Virgin Mary is called "Eleousa" ( = merciful), "Parigoritissa" ( = comforter), "Giatrissa" ( = someone who heals). One of the most famous names given to Her is Blessed Virgin and "Faneromeni" ( = appeared). These names are given to icons of Virgin Mary were revealed by miracle.

3.2. Social life traditions

3.2.1. Birth The circle of man's life starts with the Birth (arrival).

Traditions About Pregnancy- Birth- 40 Days After Birth- Christening The birth of a child as the loss of a beloved person are events that mark our lives. It was inevitable to have many traditions and superstitions about these important events, birth and death.

Traditions About Pregnancy A woman should be very careful from the first moments of her pregnancy. This wasn't easy because the housework was too many and she should do them herself. Sometimes she should go to the fields, and some women were giving birth there. So, women worked in the house and at the fields to the end of their pregnancy, but they shouldn't go out at night, especially from the sixth to the ninth month. This is a tradition we see in our days too. They also shouldn't go to a funeral. The explanation is very simple for us today: an intense emotion might become the reason for a bad turn in pregnancy, and that would harm the baby too. But simple people at villages gave different explanation: the pregnant woman who went to a funeral, was giving birth to a baby with yellow skin if she didn’t touch iron or green soil after the funeral. A woman shouldn't go to a funeral for the 40 days after birth. The intense emotion could stop or decrease her milk. Suckling was very important for mother and child and it was taking place for more than 2 years.

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Traditions About Birth In the old days women were giving birth at home. An old woman of the village with experience was usually there to help. She was the 'mami', the midwife. When a woman was ready to give birth, her mother in law called the midwife. According to the tradition, she was coming holding three reed sand having water in her mouth. As she was entering the room of the pregnant woman, she was swallowing some water and she was spiting the rest on the belly of the pregnant woman. Then she was holding an egg over the belly of the pregnant woman and she was turning it around for three times. At the end, she was putting the egg at the legs of the mother- to-be and she was breaking it with her right foot. All these was meant for a birth without pain. The mother-to-be was sitting on a stool, in order to be easier the birth. The midwife was taking the baby out and she was cutting the navel with a silk thread, and then she was telling the baby's sex to the mother and the relatives. She was cleaning the baby and wrapping the navel with hair she had cut from the mother. The hair was there until the baby's navel was dropping. After all these, she was dressing the baby and putting it to the cradle. Next to the cradle they were putting a broom, a dustpan, some bread and some salt. It is characteristic that they were swaddling the baby for a long time. The first milk the baby was drinking was from a woman who already was breast-feeding her own baby. In the future the two children were connecting spiritual as siblings and this woman was considered to be a nanny. Three days after the birth, the midwife was visiting the baby. She was giving it its first bath and she was bringing as a gift a pair of pajamas. In some places, the fourth day after the birth, the new mother was changing clothes and she was going with the baby and her mother-in-law to the river. They were taking with them a change of clothes of the baby, a pot for water, bread, onion and salt. When they were arriving to the river, the mother was filling the pot with water, putting the bread three times to the river, salting the onion and eating it with the bread. Then she was drinking some water from the pot, and as she turning east she was telling: «As the sun comes out, the same way the milk to come out». Then she was giving the baby to drink some water. After all these she was staying home for three days before she would return to the fields for work. The next days, everyone was visiting the new mother and bringing presents for the baby. The first one was the midwife, who was bringing the mother a round loaf of bread, pancakes, a white textile and baby-clothes. The mother was giving her a soap, a shirt and an apron. After a week, the same woman was putting ouzo and ashes to the baby's back, if it was yellow, and she was shaving it.

Traditions About The 40 Days After Birth There were unwritten laws for the 40-days period after the birth. This period was difficult and tiring as well, and the woman was sensitive in soul and body. It is remarkable how many things a woman should avoid in order not to stop having milk. She shouldn't accept visitors after the sunset, something that is still believed even in the cities. Everyone who

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland visited the new mother should give her wine and pancakes, and if they visited her after the sunset they shouldn't take anything from her home. She shouldn't forget wet clothes of hers or the baby's outside after the sunset. If the new mother happened to meet another new mother, she should turn her back to her. She shouldn't blow to the fire, and she should keep her heels between her legs when she was sitting on the floor. Before the 40 days were over, the new mother and her baby shouldn't go out of the house, and this is something that is still happening in our days. After the 40 days, she was going with her family at her mother's house, and they were eating there. After the 40 days, mother and child could go to the church. These 40 days, the woman shouldn't have any contact with her husband. This was happening because at the 40th day she was going to the church to take a blessing for the baby, and if she had any contacts with her husband, everyone would say ''the mother-dog and her baby-dog came back''. If she hadn't any contacts, everyone would say ''Virgin Mary and her baby came back''. These were the instructions for good health. Mothers avoided to take the babies outside in the night, in order not to get sick and to avoid the bad eye. The first tooth of the baby was an important event for the family. Mother was boiling wheat and she was spreading it in a pan. She was putting over it objects, such as pen, scissors and hammer, and from the first object the baby was touching, they were trying to guess his profession. This is a tradition we still find it today at some places. Another important event was the first steps of the baby. Mother was putting two lightwoods under the baby's arms and it was walking with them for two- three steps. Then the mother was baking bread on these woods, and she was giving it to relatives and friends. This isn't happening today.

Traditions About Christening It was used to christen the babies when they were 15 days old, or 2-3 months old. Nowadays we do it when they are a little older. The Wendesday before christening, grandmothers used to invite relatives and friends and offer them bread. Today, parents invite them with printed invitations and they offer biscuits. In the old days it was remarkable the absence of the parents from the service of christening in church. On Sunday morning the grandmother (the mother of the father) was taking the baby to the church. The godparent was a member of the family. He/she was buying the oilcloth, the candle, the baby's clothes. The baby's name was a selection of the godparent and the parents didn't know until the christening was over. In some places the name was a selection of the parents of the baby's father. When the priest was telling the baby's name, the children run back home to tell the name to the parents. They were giving money to the child who told the name first. Today the name of the baby is a selection of the parents, and it is usually after one of the grandparents. Parents are present to the christening. When the service is over, the mother bent 3 times to the godparent, kisses his/her hand and takes her baby. After the mystery of christening, the guests were eating and drinking at the house of the baby's parents. The family used to cook

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland lamp, and boiled or corn if it was a period of fastening. Guests women used to bring food with them as well. The sweet was ''baklavas''. Today the party is being held at a restaurant. They also used to take out a tray during the meal, and the guests were giving money for the baby. Another party was held after 3 days, only for women, when the godmother was bathing the baby from the oil. During the ''washing-of-the-oil'' the godmother was putting an egg in the water, so the baby's days would be without end, just like the egg hasn't any beginning or end. Women also were throwing coins in the water so the baby would be so loved as money, and everyone was giving wishes. The first Easter of the baby after its christening, parents were visiting the godparents and were offering them a lamp as a proof of respect, since the godparent is considered to be the spiritual parent. The godparent was offering the child clothes. Today it is used the godparent to visit the child and offer it a gift and the Easter candle. This is happening until the child becomes 12 years old.

Among all these traditions. there were many about the couples without children. They usually used a therapy with special herbs. A characteristic that connects birth and death is the 40-days period. The 40-days the baby needs in order to become a full member of the world of the livings and the 40-days the dead needs to become a member of the world of the dead. Couples that was having difficulty to have a baby or had problems at pregnancy, used to promise the child to a saint or Virgin Mary. This is called ''taksimo''. So the baby was named after the saint or one of the many manes of Virgin Mary. In Rhodes many children is named Tsabikos or Tsabika, after this name of Virgin Mary. Other traditions want not to cut the baby's hair until the christening. Parents also save the baby's nails to throw them in the water of the christening. In old days, the way to choose a godparent was simple: the first child of a family was christening by the bestman of the wedding. Today this is happening sometimes but parents are also free to choose another godparent. In some places the godparent is the aunt or uncle of the baby. If someone starts to christen children, all the children must be of the same sex, all boys or all girls. This is happening because all these children are this man's/woman's spiritual children, and they considered to be

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland siblings. So it is not allowed a marriage between them. If they are all of the same sex, there is not such a possibility

3.2.2. Marriage

Marriage Traditions (depurture and arrival) The main phases of the marriage traditions were: • Choosing the bride (the groom) and signs of readiness for marriage for the girls. • Arranged marriages, choosing the go-between, ritual disguise of her. • Engagement, marking the couple to be: engagement ring, handkerchief etc... • Traditions of the previous week of the wedding (invitations, making the flag and the breads of the wedding, bathing couple to be, the tradition of the dowry etc). • Traditions of the wedding (shaving and dressing the groom, dressing the bride, bridal dress, bridal veil, the parade of taking the bride from her parents' house and taking her to church, marriage ceremony and return home, entrance of the new-weds to the house of the groom's parents, taking of the bridal veil, the first night of the marriage and testing the bride's virginity!!). • Traditions after the wedding (visiting a well, washing the feet of the relatives of the groom, the bride returns at her parents' house, her first bath after the wedding, anti-marriage). The very first concept of marriage is corresponding to the magical tales: the passage of the hero (groom) and his representatives to the other world, searching the bride, and their return. The conditions and the preparation for the passage in the world of the bride are: the ritual hair- washing, the shaving and clothing the groom (= of the dead), the Nuptial procession with obstacles and their crossing, the ritual "metamorphosis" into animal as a way of passage in the other world: the groom in the world the bride and the bride in the world of groom. Groom-Ram and Bride-Bird.

Arranged marriages In old days, the marriages were only arranged. They wanted to know the generation of the bride, her family's economical situation, and the social status she belonged. The arrangements were undertaking by the relatives of the groom after they had choose the girl. It was not essential the groom to know the bride, neither to ask his opinion. It was discussed with the parents of bride, and it was them who decided. Usually they postponed the answer until they discuss it. When they agreed, the parents of groom went in person in the arrangements, keeping a lit lamp. The arrangements usually became at the "dodekaimera" (the 12-days), and they stopped from all works. It was a characteristic picture of that days the

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland lamps that were coming and going in the streets by various go-betweens. They never asked the bride to be, if she accepts. If the father of bride agreed with the arrangement (proxenio), they would close an agreement with the father of groom. According to this, the father of groom should give to the father of the bride money, in order the latter to accept the marriage. Engagement The engagement was becoming on Saturday evening or on holidays. In some places, the groom was absent. Only the parents-in-law and relatives were present. The people who would go to the bride's house shouldn't be even in number. If they were, it was considered to be a bad omen for the engagement. The parents-in-law was giving to the bride a doumpla (double pound) or even a pentoliro (five pounds) and many jewelry. The relatives of the groom were giving money, with which the bride should buy a jewel. The relatives of the bride were giving to the groom a golden cross and new clothes. They were also giving clothes to the two mothers-in-law as gifts. For as long as the engagement was lasted, it was used by both mothers of the two children to give homemade bread one to another. However, the bride was never eating from the bread of her mother-in-law, as well as anything else that was contained yeast (like ), because that would spoil the arrangements. The bride was never going to the house of groom, was never speaking to her parents-in-law, their relatives and the groom and she was avoiding meeting them even in the street. If her parents-in- law or their relatives wanted her to speak to them, they should treat her a mint or a pound and then to ask from her to speak, since the bride wasn't starting a conversation, either because she was ashamed or because she was respecting them. Marriage In some places in Greece, a week before the marriage, and more specific on Saturday, both mothers were making boiled wheat and a memorial service - that was an invitation to their deads- because after the marriage and for one year they didn't go to the cemeteries. On Sunday evening the parents of groom were taking a 'mpaoulo' (chest) at the house of the bride for her dowry, which was contained a jewel, rice and money. This process was essential in order to confirm that the next Sunday the marriage would be taken place. The marriage was usually becoming on Sunday. Until it was over, the couple to be shouldn't see each other, because this was the tradition. Usually on Wednesday, the relatives were visiting the house of the groom, and were bringing with them a small quantity of wheat. They were placing it in a room of the house. Then they were mixing all the quantity that they had gathered, and were adding fruits and candies. After this, the youngs were searching in the plate to find the fruits and the candies, while they were wishing happiness to the couple to be. Today this custom has been replaced with the making of the bridal bed in the house that the new

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland couple will live. The unmarried girl-friends are making the bed singing, while the groom is making observations that it is not set correctly, and he undo it 3 times. Afterwards, the parents of the groom and all the relatives are throwing money on the bed. They also place a baby on the bed, they prefer a boy, so the first child of the couple to be a boy. On Saturday before the marriage, there was a party in both houses of the parents. The guests along with the gifts were giving cock. Then everyone was going to the house of the best men. They were taking from there the best-woman and they were directing for the house of the bride. There they were making a small joke, and the bride was keeping her hand closed in order the best-woman couldn't open it and after she did she was crossing her hand, was putting money in it and they were dancing in the yard of the house. Then they were inviting all the friends and neighbors to the party of Saturday which was taken place to the house of the groom. The best-woman was taking her guests as well as the relatives of the groom and were going to his house. Afterwards the relatives of girl were going too, and they were taking the musicians to the house of the bride. Later, the relatives of the groom were taking the musicians to his house and in order to accomplish them, they were treating the relatives of the bride. The previous evening of the marriage, in some villages the young girls were making homemade bread, called 'kouloures', and the young boys were singing various erotic songs. Then they were making bread, in which they were placing a coin in it. At midnight, they were cutting the bread and they were sharing it. Whoever happened to have the coin, was taking it to the father-in-law and after he was kissing his hand, he was showing the coin and was taking some money. When at last the day of the marriage had arrived, the young girls were dressing the bride with the traditional wedding dress, while at the same time they were wishing health and happiness. The white wedding dress came up in the last decades. The bride was sending to the groom a shirt and socks and then she was beginning to cloth. The girls were turning the wedding dress three times over the bride's head, while the best-woman was wearing to her only the right shoe and the rest 'decoration' was made by the girls who were there. After they had prepared the bride, the best-woman with the others were returning to the house of the groom. There they were beginning the shaving of the groom, where the relatives didn't leave the barber to shave and they were taking the soap from his face with coins. Meanwhile, the musicians were playing various themes. After the shaving, the best man was dressing the groom with the first cloth and the rest was worn by the other young boys. Then the best man was cutting above the head of the groom a sweetbread and he was sharing it with the guests. The unmarried girls was putting their piece under their pillow, in order to dream the one they would marry. The groom, the best man, the guests and the musicians were going to take the bride and they were dancing. In front of the door of her house,

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland there was her brother - if she had one - some relatives and friends, and a small bargain of money was taking place in order to eliminate the obstacles in the receival of the bride. After they had agreed for the money that they had to give, they were opening the door and were entering the groom first and the best man with all the others to follow. Under the bride's legs there was a sieve, which was covered with a red cloth, or a deep dish, in which whoever was entering from the relatives of the groom was throwing money in it, bending in front of the bride. The mother of the groom was gathering the money, in order to give them to the bride later. At the end, the bride was greeting her family, she was kissing their hands and they were giving her money. As she was coming out from her house, the bride with the groom were bending three times in front of the exterior door, and all the others were throwing rice and flowers. In the way to the church, the groom with the best man and his best friend were going ahead and the bride with the best-woman were following. The father-in-law of the bride was keeping a walking stick in order to prevent anyone who would want to enter in front of the bride. In other places, the groom was bringing a horse with him, and he was putting the bride on it, and then he was riding it too. On the right and left of the horse, two girls were walking, and they were the escort of the bride. When they were reaching at the church, the mystery of marriage was taken place. After the end of the mystery, they were going to the house of the groom. In some places, at the entry of the house, the waiters had already placed various obstacles. Among the obstacles, there was a swing. In the swing were entering a waiter, and above him was standing another one, who was keeping a sieve and he was hiding his face with a textile. The guests were throwing money in the sieve and after they were passing the entrance of the house. Whoever didn't throw, couldn't pass. In other places, after the marriage, everyone was heading to the river. They were placing a coin on the right foot of the groom and the bride. Then somebody was mixing the waters of the river. The groom and the bride, after they made penitence, they were throwing the coins in the river. When the bride was entering in the house, she should step on iron or on chain, in order the couple never to separate. The father-in-law or the mother-in-law was holding honey and thick cream or a dish rice pudding and he was crossing with his finger their doorstep, and then he was feeding both from a little. In some places, the mother-in-law was passing a towel around the necks of the new-weds and she was pulling them in the house. Finally, everyone was directing to the house of the groom and there they were beginning the party, up to midnight. The basic characteristic of the party was the dance. First the groom dances with the bride, with the best men, the in-laws and afterwards all the other guests. In some places, the bride has to dance with all the relatives. Very often, in the islands, during the party, the guests were pinning pounds and bank notes on the clothes of the new-weds or on white towels that the couple had in front of them.

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The best man, at some moment, was saying to the couple to leave from the party and to go to his room fastly, in order to anyone else not to have time to beat the groom. When the couple was withdrawing, the party was continued for as long as they wanted. The essential factor for the marriage to take place was the bride to be a virgin. In case she was not, the marriage was cancelled. On Monday morning, if the bride was honest, the mother of the groom was sending the news to the mother of the bride with a relative and she had to say: "with health the young-boys". The mother of the bride was making pies and and she was sending them to her daughter. Then they were noticing the best-woman and they started a new party up to the midday. In the opposite case, the traditional processes were humiliating for the two families. The parents of the bride shouldn't see their girl for a week. On Tuesday of the marriage, the relatives were making foods and pies and they were saying that they were going to have fun. The evening of the same day, the bride was inviting all the relatives and best men, she was sharing gifts to them and they had fun once again. In the afternoon of Saturday, the girls of the neighborhood were going with the bride to the well and if they were meeting at the street old persons she was kissing their hand. At the part that were the well, the bride was filling her jug and she was bending, and then she was throwing money on the ground, in order for the girls to gather them. On Sunday, everyone were going to the church. When the service was finished, the couple and the parents of the groom were going to the house of the bride with their foods. For forty days after the marriage the bride was serving all the family. She should stand up at the time that the rest of the family were eating and only after they had finished she would gather the table and she would eat too. She was washing their feet and she was making all the housework. After the marriage, on new-years day, the best men were visiting the pair, which they had wed, with foods, sweet breads, and and the bride was giving them halva. At Easter the best-woman was sending to the bride a pair socks, slippers and Easter-candles. The bride would wear the slippers to go to take Bay-leave on Palm Sunday. The parents-in-law of the bride, at Easter, were taking their foods and were going to the house of the best men for one more party. On the first of May the bride was sending to her parents-in-law the May-hoop.

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3.2.3. Death

Traditions about Death (depurture) Traditions about death are the last honor we give to the beloved who passed away. When someone died, people of his family washed him and dressed him with his best clothes. Especially his socks and shoes should be new. After that, his relatives and friends visited his house and lit a candle "for his soul to rest" and they should spend the night with him. The priest was also there to say a prayer for the dead. After the funeral service, which was taken place in the church, everyone was going to the cemetery, where the bury of the dead was taken place in mourning. As an honor everyone offered flowers. Then the women offered bread, cheese and boiled wheat, which is a tradition of Ancient Greeks, and towels to wash their hands from the soil they dropped over the grave. The closest relatives went home and drank and cogniac and ate bread and wine. The next day, the family of the dead washed his sheets and blankets and they painted his room white. A memory service was held at three, nine and forty days after the funeral, and after three and six months, a year, three and seven years. At the memory service the family takes to the church boiled wheat mixed with walnuts, , sugar and other ingredients, the "koliva". For forty days the family was mourning the death of their beloved one, they didn't eat meat and they visited the grave everyday to light the lamp. Men didn't shave and wore a black tie and women wore black clothes for a long time. The family shouldn't wash their hair on Saturday. Every region has its own special tradition about death. For example, the signs which predict the death: a dog which howls or that someone's death predict the death of other two people of the same village. Other believes has to do with the departure of the soul, if someone was not a good man his soul wasn't easily leaving him! At some places as soon as someone died the family opened the windows, poured water and covered the mirrors. Other traditions are about the care of the dead: close his eyes and mouth, wash his hair, coat with scent and use shrouds, offers to the dead, candles, money for the dead to pay the guard of the underworld and pass him with his boat... At Krete and Mani, women mourn special laments. At other places, as the dead is getting out of his house the family breaks a plate at the doorstep, so his soul will go away. At the supper after the funeral they eat fish-soup.

3.3. Special Traditions Every place in our country has its own traditions, which are very important characteristics of this place. They are so many, that it would take hundrends of pages to describe all of them. That's why we will refer to some of them, the most known, as we know them from our parents.

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The Foundation Of A New House For the foundation of a new house, a religious service takes place. Then a white lamp or a cock is offered as a sacrifice to the foundations. The holly service is taken place in order the new house to have good luck and prosperity. Relatives and guests throw gold coins to the foundations.

Martis On March the 1st we wear a bracelet made of red and white thread, so we will not get burnt by the sun. That was happening in the old ages, because parents didn't want to let little children staying under the sun for a long time, because they was getting ill so easy in the beginning of the spring. They wore it for the whole month and they took it out when they first swallow was coming or they burnt it to the Easter candle.

Ksematiasma It is a common belief that there are people with "bad eye", who get you sick if they look at you. Then someone has to take the bad eye of you (ksematiasma). A woman, who knows the special prayer, says it secretly as she throws olive oil's drops in a glass of water. If the oil mixes with the water, that means that you have the bad eye, and you get well by the prayer. This special prayer is been transferred by a woman to a man and by a man to a woman. If a woman tells it to another woman, then she will lose the gift to take away the bad eye.

The Bride' S Shoe When a girl is getting married her female fiends write their names under the bride' s shoe. If a name is erased, then the girl who wrote it will be the next to get married.

The Wedding' S Sugared If you take wedding's sugared almonds from the disc with the marriage wreaths, and put them under your pillow for three nights, you will see the one you are going to get married with.

Something New If you buy new shoes, your friends will step on the front side and say 'with health'. If you buy new car, your friends will throw coins in it for good luck. If you cut your hair, your friends will give you a slap on the head and say 'with health'. Herbs Tradition says that there are special herbs for special occasions. Male- herb for expecting a baby-boy. Love-herb for the one you want to love you, etc.

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1st Of May 1st of May is a day of joy and memory. Joy, because everyone go to the countryside and enjoy nature' s best time. We cut flowers and we make the 'first of may - hoop', and we hung it over the front door. We play, barbeque, dance and sing. We are happy because of nature' s beauty. Memory, because we honor the sacrifices and struggles of the workers. Tradition also says, that we have to touch the wooden root of a plant, the 'may-wood' (magioksilo), for good luck in our love life.

October the 28th & March the 25th Both are very important national holidays in Greece. Both days we honor the beginning of war against Italy and Germany during the 2nd world war and against Turkish slavery. These days soldiers and students make great parades.

Day-months (imerominia) The first 12 days of August refer to the 12 months of the year, starting from August. We write down the weather of these days (whether there are any clouds, the direction of the wind), and we know how the weather will be through the whole year.

Believes, sayings and... When the cat is bathing itself, it is going to rain. Every house has a ghost-snake. When the dog howls like a wolf, then something bad is going to happen to its master. When your right hand scratches, then you are going to give money to someone. When your left hand scratches, then you are going to take money from someone. When your foot scratches, you are going to walk a lot. Everyone who has big space between his front teeth will be lucky in his life. As many moles someone has on his body, the more sorrows he will suffer. When the swallows fly low, then it is going to rain. When your ear buzzes, someone talks about you.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Someone with blue eyes gives the 'bad eye' very easy. If we don't want to give to someone the 'bad eye', we 'spit' him. People born on Saturday are bringing bad luck, and everything they say, happens. When your nose scratches, someone talks about you. When your left eyelash trembles, something good will happen. When your right eyelash trembles, something bad will happen. If you find a horseshoe, you will live a happy life. If someone has white spots on his nails, he will have many . If wine is poured, the dead people will drink it. When the cuckoo sings, something bad will happen. When someone was getting frightened, he was drinking water with sugar. If someone was putting a spell on you, you should pour salty water all over the house, so the evil was gone. When it was thundering and the weather was ready for rain, they used to say that prophet Ilias was walking over the clouds with his cart. In old ages, people were always carrying a piece of on them, in order to avoid the 'bad eye'. Meeting a pertidge, is good luck. Meeting a rabbit is bad luck. Blonde people was believed to be evil. When someone sneezes, he says the truth. If you meet mice as you walk, then you have many enemies. If you stumble as you walk, then someone gave you the 'bad eye'. If you yawn, then someone gave you the 'bad eye'. If the smoke goes up, then you are a good man, and the vice versa. In the old ages, people was wearing skin of snakes in order not to get under spell. With the snakeskin they believe that they would see in their dreams the magician who did the spells. Little children don't eat chicken legs, because as the hen digs the earth they wouldn't keep any secrets. When the cock sings at night, something bad will happen, and when he sings in the morning something good will happen. If the winter passes with good weather, something bad will happen for the nation. Leap years are cursed. In peep years none is getting married. In May none is getting married, because donkeys are mating. In Wednesdays none is getting married. If a woman is sitting on a table, she will not get married.

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If a woman is sitting on a chest, she will have only daughters. Pouring salt is bad luck. If you want someone unwanted guest to leave your house, you secretly pour salt behind his back. If you see a dream on Sunday morning, it' s a sign for something that will happen until noon. The same for dreams we see on Wednesday' s noon. Wednesdays and Fridays we don't cut our nails. If we want to leave a place and never come back, we throw a black stone behind us as we leave.

4. Culture

4.1. Music and songs The songs from one nation are a representative element of the soul and life of that people. Through the songs are expressed the fights that people did for their liberation, their distresses for life and death, their visions, their life theory and in general their historical presences. Songs express also the outbreak of people's soul, which is synchronized by the joy, the sorrow or other sentiments by which people fell the need to express themselves in moments of mental elation. More over, with the songs is cultivated the common linguistic code and via this the internal resistances in each effort of alteration and assimilation are strengthened. From the variety of the songs most of them are narrative.

The Greeks lived throughout their path of history an intense life. They struggled, they fought, they loved and hated, enjoyed but also cried like no other nation in the world. And all this, they transform it into a song. Hence,

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland the traditional Greek song is a creation of an anonymous poet, the Greek people and it is the mirror of the Greek soul and life. With a unique way the traditional songs are accompanied by the clarinet that with its sweet sound makes the brain of a person to travel and the body to dance with with proudness. The musical instruments that usually collaborate in order to attribute the music of these songs are the clarinet, the violin, the tambourine, the lute and the santouri. With the traditional songs the Greek people is always - even today - having fun during their benders, their feasts or in the marriages. The older generations are always trying to teach to the younger the songs and the dances of their territory so as to continue the tradition to the future generations too. Who said that the Byzantine Music is exclusively an ecclesiastical music? The patrimonial Byzantine music tradition has left in our days a brilliant deposit of rich samples, which famous hymnists and composers have created. These songs are also known as Hymnsongs.

4.2. Folklore dance Dance is the rhythmical movement of one or more persons accompanied with music or song. For ancient Greeks, dance was a gift from Gods, to forget their problems. Information about dances in ancient Greece, we have from Homer and many others. Every dance has special movements. Other dances are for religious occasions, others for war, for wedding, etc. according to the place we dance them, are divided in two groups: dances of the main land and island dances. The name of every dance comes the the area that people dance it, the words of the song that accompanies the dance, the way dances stand or hold hands or from the objects dancers hold i.e. handkerchiefs. Some dances have jumps and others are slow. But most of them are danced in a circle. There is a huge list of dances that would need ages to describe: Tsamikos and kalamatianos from Peloponissos and Sterea Ellada, Sirtos, koftos and Fisouni from Hipiros, Leventikos and Raikos from Macedonia, Mpaidouska and Zonaradikos from Thraki, Haniotikos and Pentozali from kriti, Mpalos and Issos from the Islands, Hasapikos and Carsilamas from Asia Minor and so many others! Here we present you three of these dances: Tsamikos The Tsamikos is a dance that was important to the kleftes or Greek rebels, who lived in the mountains during Greece`s revolutionary war against Turkey. The name of the dance comes from the name used to describe the outfits they wore, which were called tsamika. The main feature of the kleftiko costume is the foustanella a white pleated kilt. These types of outfits can still be seen today in parades and special events where they are worn by the special segment of the Greek army called . This is a warlike dance and was danced in preparation for battle, as evidenced in the leader's leaps and spins, somersaults and striking of feet on the floor. Through these steps, the leader is showing his physical skill 48

e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland and his value as a man and a fighter. The entire dance is an expression of bravery and the desire to win.

Kalamatianos The origins of this dance are unknown. Its name comes from the where it was created. There are many theories put forward concerning its ancient origins. The latter are evident in the depiction of the dance on pots and wall paintings, which show some of the typical step and figures. The fact that the dancers hold each other by the wrist helps us to reach the conclusion that the kalamatianos is related in some way to one of the ancient dances of the Greeks. Its jolly rhythm and simple steps has made it into the most popular Greek dance, danced throughout Greece by both men and women. It consists of 12 basic steps and all the dancers in a circle dance it simultaneously. It gives the opportunity for the leading dancer to improvise a number of figures. Initially all the dancers form a circle and look into the center with their feet at a standing to attention position while they hold each other by the wrist or a handkerchief.

Hasapiko (Asia Minor) The butcher's dance from the Guild of Constantinople during the Byzantine period. It is danced in a straight line and consists of the basic

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland step alternating with variations. Every group has its own set of variations. The dance remained popular in Constantinople (Istabul), Asia Minor and some islands for centuries until the 1922, after which it became panhellenic. Thanks to the movie "Zorba the Greek" is has become the best known Greek dance in the world. We present proudly the Hasapiko with our own combination of steps.

4.3. Theater The Greek Theater of Shadows - Karagiozis

In Greece, as a part of our civilization, we proudly present the Popular Theatre of Shadows or Karagiozis. This is a going back to the UNIVERSAL HISTORY of the Shadows’ Theatre. - How many times didn’t we play with our shadow? What gives birth to our shadow? THE LIGHT. When there is light, there is shadow too. The shadow always depends on the light and on the presence of a 3D existence, which may be animate or not. Many religions had given religious meaning to the shadow. The shadows kingdom is nothing else but a synonym to the kingdom of the deads, while some people call the deads «shadows of the past», and they refer to the shadows of the deads, which wander especially in the night, inside or outside of ruined houses.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

The falling of the shadow and the change of its dimensions, according to the position of the sun, hides a magic, not quiet clear meaning. In some countries of Africa, the noon is the most demoniac time, because the sun is almost vertical, disappearing perfectly the shadows. That’s why, the Theatre of Shadows has so old roots, that they are lost in the depth of the centuries, and the sources of its creation are as darker, as the shadow. Several theories put its origin in India, Java or China. But, all the information indicates that it has come from Asia. The oldest proves about this are included in the epic poems of MAHABARATA and TERIGATA. But also, the subjects of the plays of Shadows’ Theatre of Iava, Ceylon and Thailand come from MAHABARATA and RAMAGIANA. The Theatre of Shadows in India was developed in about 200 before Christ. In China, it appeared in about 200 after Christ, by a magician, who -in order to comfort the King Vu-Ti, who had lost his wife- represented her shadow behind a screen. Traveling from Far East to Western, the Shadows’ Theatre has its first natural station in Iran. There, the plays of Shadows’ Theatre are known until the beginning of 20th Century. Among all the Arabic countries of Middle East and North Africa, just only Egypt gives us the first proves about Shadows’ Theatre, although sometimes its signs make their appearance in the big Arabic civil centers, like Baghdad and Damascus. Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco have their own Theatre of Shadows. Among all these countries, Egypt is the only one that has got the first written texts, which were played in Shadows’ Theatre performances, in the beginning of 20th Century. There is a great disagreement among the investigators of the Art of Shadows’ Theatre, in relation to the way this art traveled to the West, arrived in Mediterranean and ,finally, it terminated in TURKEY and GREECE.

The most probable case is that, the Shadows’ Theatre has traveled together with Gypsies from India. In relation to how the Religious Theatre of Shadows succeeded to be changed and become comic, one of the many charming legends says that, Hatziavat is a contractor in Bursa and he is building Pasha’s Palace. Karagioz works there as a chief workman - carpenter and he amuses the workers, telling them a lot of stories. So, they listen to Karagioz’s stories with great admiration and the building of the palace cannot be finished. When Pasha discovers the reason of the delay,

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland he orders his officers to kill Karagioz. After that, however, Pasha had remorses because of his crime, and he fell into deep melancholy. Hatziavat, who had listened a lot of Karagioz’s stories, cuts down a cardboard, gives it Karagioz’s shape and, miming Karagioz’s voice, he presents on a white screen the funny stories of Karagioz. So, this legend, as many others, indicates the confusion that exists, as for the entrance of this Show in Turkey or otherwise in Turkish ruled Greece. In Greece, the Theatre of Shadows appears in 1841 in Nafplion, where, in some newspaper of that time, there is a reference about Karagiozis. John Vrahalis was the first Karagiozis’s player in Greece. Immediately, Karagiozis becomes accepted and very beloved in independed Greece and wherever a performance takes place, a lot of people come to watch it. In 1890 in Patra, Dimitrios Sardounis (otherwise called Mimaros) will succeed -with great skill- to absolve Karagioz from all the foreign elements. This great master and mime, Mimaros, managed to absolve Karagiozis from all the shameful words, indecent phrases and movements and step by step he succeeded to give him the form we see today. Through the years, Karagiozis is becoming a satirical Theatre. Using persons of the old authority, like Pasha, Pasha’s daughter, Vizier, Derven-Aga, who didn’t exist in the Turkish Theatre of Shadows, he satirizes the new authority. From place to place and according to the needs of each town, new characters are added like Karagiozis wife Aglaia, his children, kolitiria or his uncle Mparmpagiorgis and the strongest of them continue to exist up to now. In Athens, Karagiozis makes his first appearance in 1852 in a neighborhood of Plaka. As in Turkish Karagioz, so in Greek Karagiozis too, the feminine persons are very few, because the player - who mimes all the voices- is a man. The same thing used to happen in the Ancient Greek Theatre, where the actors were men, who used to play the part of feminine roles too. There is a great similarity between Karagiozis and the characters of the Ancient Aristophanes’s Comedy. Karagiozis looks like the descendant of the slaves of Aristophanes’s comedies. Karagiozis’s player is a great creator. He makes himself his own figures, using leather of a big animal, he paints and engraves them. He makes himself his own scenery. He plays the part of all the voices and the plays, which are presented by him each time, are not written in a text, but they have been written in each player’s mind, since the time he was an assistant. That is, from mouth to mouth, from the player to his assistant, the subjects of the Greek Shadows’ Theatre have been spread and preserved up to our days. This means that the Greek Shadows’ Theatre belongs to the Traditional - Popular Speech and it is a Traditional - Popular Art, like the Folk Song. The Greek Karagiozis’s player has the responsibility of the play’s direction and music and he prepares -with his own skill and imagination- the required effects. Besides, the Greek Karagiozis’s player constructs by himself his own stage, giving it his own architectural form. All the above elements indicate that Karagiozis’s player must be an excellent talent. - The most fertile period, where the Greek Shadows’ Theatre

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland flourishes is the period from 1915 up to 1950. In this period, the most of the plays, which are presented up to our days, were created and the greatest players were born. Each neighborhood had its own theatre, where every night a lot of people, of any age, was crowded together to watch the performance. The dynamic course of the show was stopped violently by the technology and the development of Seventh Art, of Movie and later on of Television. Today, in Greece, the Shadows’ Theatre is in accession again, although without the classic summer theatres with the ivy and the jasmine, a place from where the greatest players set out. For the next generations is very important to contribute in preservation and development of such a great and important art: The Art of the Greek - Popular Theatre of Shadows.

4.4. Traditional Art

Traditional Costumes In each region of Greece people wear different traditional uniforms. In the islands the men wear a uniform called "knickers". In central Greece, Peloponnese and the Continent the men wear a Greek kilt with a shirt, a vest and also rustic shoes. The women wear far wide white skirts, woolen embellished vest and an apron. While in their head they bring a white veil. The fabrics are made from the women themselves in the loom and all the uniforms have rich decoration. Let's see some characteristic women's costumes:

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Aegina Argos Athens

Krete Evia Korfu

Korinthos Salamina Epirus

Hand-Made Textiles - Loom The picture of a girl who weaves to the loom is familiar to everyone, even to those who never actually saw it. This is happening because it has become a popular subject in Greek poetry, from Homer to the folklore songs. In Odyssey, Dias sent Hermes to the Calypso’s island and he found the nymph in the cave to sing and weave to the loom with a golden dart. In folklore songs, the man who lived abroad for many years returns home and he finds his loved one to weave to the loom. According to Plato, simple people, women and children love multicolor things and variety. Folklore art is the expression of simple people's soul. Its characteristics are colors and

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland variety of designs. Hand-made textiles came to a peak in all regions of Greece and in the 'lost homelands'.

In Thrace and Macedonia this art was so closely connected to the life of family and the economical activities, that we find it in all traditions, superstitions and as the main income of the family. The relation of the simple man with all the things he creates and with material is not just practical, but it is also spiritual and magical! The thread that is spined by the woman at her distaff is not just the first material of her textile, but it is symbolize her fortune as well. «Her days are being cut», is a saying for the woman whose the thread was often cut in the spinning. And the loom, present in every house, was closely connected with traditions. In the late 19th and early 20th century, many valuable pieces of art came from the loom. The designs, the harmony and clearance of the colors gave these masterpieces a distinct place in the after-Byzantine folklore art. Tradition didn't allow innovations about the designs. These designs were taught from mother to daughter. However, women with artistic spirit gave their own stamp to the textile. The great peak of the hand-made textiles in Macedonia and especially in Serres was in the middle of 18th until the early 20th century. These years, hand-made textiles had a very unique place in the folklore art of Greeks of North Greece, not only as house usage but as workshop art as well. This art is performed by women in the house and by men in factories. As workshop art and industry, it had an important role in the economy of each place. After 1922, , who lived in Macedonia, made the hand-made textiles and they mainly made rags. Machines make today all textiles, in big industries in Greece and abroad. It would be a waste to forget such a inheritance, that other countries would cherish as treasure. The government should do anything to avoid loosing our folklore art and support the folklore artists.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Folklore Art A part of folklore art are the objects of everyday use, as: the pot we gather the milk, the sieve, the mortar, the stamp of the bread we offer for Holy Communion, baking-tins, peasant's bags, copper, shallow baking-tins and pots. All these show the invention of folklore artists.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Jewellery Another important part of folklore art is the hand-made jewellery.

Wood-Sculpture The wood-sculpture is part of the folklore art in many places in Greece. Greeks love the wooden hand-made furniture.

Pottery Pottery in Greece is a piece of art.

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland

Musical Instruments Today the makers of traditional musical instruments are very few. This is a unique art which is going to eliminate...

5. Conclusions At the end we would like to talk about our experience from the program of the eTwinning. For three months we cooperated with students from La Louvierre in Belgium, on a subject we choose in common and with our teachers’ help, Mr. Maurice Medici and Mrs. Vasiliki Niarrou. The subject is Culture and Traditions of our Homeland. With our teachers’ help, we scheduled on-line meetings with the Belgian students. We used videoconference and we exchanged e-mails, using the school’s PC. When such a meeting was scheduled, we were preparing for days, gathering photos and writing essays, and we were waiting for the moment our new friends would show us theirs. The communication were taking place in English, since the students of La Louvierre speaks only French. Sometimes that was difficult, but we liked it because we practiced in English and because we tried to teach them Greek phrases and they tried to teach us French phrases. The best moment was when we talked with them in real time. We could see and listen them as they were in the next room and not thousand miles

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e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland away. That was the first time we realized that the technology can bring people together. Now that you read these lines, we, the students of the program of the electronic twinning, have already graduated the 2nd circle of the section of informatics and networks of the technical school, and we have realized that the society we live in is based on information and technology. We have also realized that it depends on us to use them for opening new horizons in communication and not to isolate, as many people believes. It is fascinated that we can exchange information with young people in our age from another country, and learn how they live, their problems, their dreams, their everyday life, how they have fun. What surprised us was that they are not different from us! They get tired with the homework, they are waiting for a holiday to get rest, they see the same movies in the cinema. And they have the same wish… to share their thoughts, problems, happy moments. They are also wishing to meet together sometime!! It is so good that programs like this are taking place in schools. It is not just that we, the students, learn new technologies and practice in foreign languages. Mainly, it is that we feel creative and responsible. We communicate with children of our age, and we share our culture, our lives, our dreams. The world that expecting us looks like a global village, and we will be its civilians. Our commons with all these people are more than our differences, and the study of the traditions of our countries proved it to us. It was also a very good opportunity for us to remember our own traditions and find all these forgotten that are a very important piece of our identity!!

6. We wish to thank… We wish to thank… the National Support Service for the eTwinning program, the principle of our school Mr. Antonio Petsini, our teacher Mrs. Vasiliki Niarrou, the teachers of informatics P.Malliara, A.Saridaki, A.Mpakamitsou, M.Tsakiraki, P.Papadopoulou, E.Kakna, Mrs. P.Staikou and Mrs. S.Apeiranthitou for their help.

The students of the 2nd Information and Computers’ Networks Circle, of the school year 2004-2005.

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