Easter on Corfu Island © Municipality of Corfu
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MUNICIPALITY OF CORFU Easter on Corfu island © Municipality of Corfu Texts by: Demetris Zymaris Maria Kamonachou Translated by: Demetris P. Dallas Management by: Municipality of Corfu, Office for Communication & Public Relations Photographs by: Yiannis Gasteratos Nikos Giohalas Yiannis Demetras Tasos Diavatis Thalia Kympari Stamatis Katapodis Markos Kyprianos Theodosia Mantzavinou Yiorgos Vlachopoulos Shutterstock Graphic design by: Fileni Lorandou This booklet was written in collaboration with • the Metropolis of Corfu, Paxos and the Diapontian Islands, • the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia the Corfu Reading Society and • the Ephorate of Antiquities of Corfu with the support of • the Municipal Organization for Culture, Sport & Environment (DOPAP) Dear friends, We welcome you to Corfu, one of the most alluring travel destinations in Greece and a meeting point of West and East. This season on our island bears the sweetness of springtime, the weight of tradition, and the strength of Christian Orthodox faith. Religious processions, rites of worship, and various other events combine to form the unique experience of Easter time on Corfu. We invite you to taste this emblematic element of our cultural identity in all its aspects. You may verify the vital relationship of Corfiots with such activities, and their participation in them. Easter is rooted in the collective conscious of the inhabitants of this island. You can feel this with all your senses; delight in the images, the colours, the sounds, the smells, the tastes. We furthermore invite you to stroll in Corfu Town and visit the island’s interior: make the acquaintance of the town’s historical centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Monument, the picturesque villages, the exquisite greenery of the countryside. Discover the history of this place and of its civilization. Our friends, We wish you a most pleasant stay. Happy Easter! The Mayor of Corfu Kostas Nikolouzos A BRIEF HISTORICAL NOTE Corfu lies at the extreme north-west of Greece. It was part of the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire until the year 1204. In later times, until 1864, the island came under the domination of various western powers. The most notable was the four-century period of Venetian rule (1386-1797), which shaped to a considerable degree the identity of these parts. The island never passed under Ottoman occupation. Corfu Town consequently received refugees from Constantinople after 1453, and from Crete in 1669, following the fall of Chandax to the Ottomans. Having become a melting pot of various populations with different cultural backgrounds, it none the less retained its Hellenic cultural identity, on the apex of which was the Greek Orthodox faith. On the other hand, incorporating influences from the Venetian, French, Russian and British rule, the town developed many characteristics of western European cities, an established indigenous professional class, and structured self-government institutions. For example, during Venetian rule the town’s Grand Council would determine the usage of public space and organize religious and lay festivals that reflected the cast of mind and collective consciousness of the various population groups throughout the island. Already from the latter 1400s the town authorities, in collaboration with the local Orthodox and Catholic clergy, had begun to institute and gradually embed the annual cycle of public religious expression. The most significant among such celebrations were those that involved the Holy Relic of Saint Spyridon, which had been transported from Constant- inople to Corfu in 1456, that locally buttressed the prestige of the Orthodox 2 The religious procession of St Spyridon at Corfu J. Cartwright, Views of the Ionian Islands, London, 1821 Church and Corfiot community. As one of the great ritual festivals of Christ- endom, Easter week held pride of place among commemorative festivals. The Corfiot Easter celebrations may be said to have three fundamental characteristics for people: the uniqueness and wealth of customs; real and living relationship with a deep tradition; and the sense of continuity, attested 3 by the participation in them of one and all inhabitants of Corfu Town, the protagonist and ideal backdrop of the festival. As time passed, Easter celebrations multiplied. This means that nowadays there is a noted presence in them of Corfiots of every age. People participate in those great civil cum-religious rituals, each person having a full understanding of their role and mission. Participation is ensured through local parishes, the brass marching bands of the philharmonic orchestras (a custom initially attached to the musical accompaniment of religious processions by 4 military bands that dates at least to the time of Venetian rule), the organized choral ensembles, and the Red Cross, Scouts, Guides, and other associations. Easter time in Corfu is a complex phenomenon of religious worship, unique in magnificence and popular participation, that has been organized here for at least five hundred years. It is an admixture of the old Byzantine ritual with influences from Venetian religious example, which was in itself rooted in Byzantine provenance. That ritual was embodied in the public ceremonies arranged then by the town itself, and nowadays organized by collaboration between Town Council and Church. One more defining characteristic of Easter here is that already since the time of Venetian rule the local Catholic Archdiocese had agreed to celebrate Easter on the same day with the Orthodox Church — and this custom is still observed. Alongside the ancient and established religious rituals, more recent years have seen the initiation of events centred on music and literature, in harmony with the season’s spirit, that enhance the quality of festivities. These are largely organized by philharmonic orchestras, choral societies and cultural associations. Villages throughout the island also celebrate Easter time in unique and beautiful fashion in the splendid greenery of Corfiot springtime. There are impressive religious processions on the Resurrection that usually take place during the week after Easter Sunday. This is one more old Byzantine custom that may be connected with the official blessing of fields by the Church in April or May. It is still extant only on the monastic community of Mount Athos, a few Cycladic islands, and among islanders of the Ionian Sea, where the Orient and Occident can enjoy peaceful coexistence. 5 EASTER IN CORFU TOWN* Friday, eve of Lazarus Saturday 19:30 Concert with Holy Week hymns by the Holy Metropolis Ecclesiastical Choir “St Arsenios” at the Church of St Spyridon. 21:00 Church music concert by the Corfu Choir at the Metropolitan Church of St Theodora, with the participation of the Children’s and Women’s choral ensembles. Lazarus Saturday 11:30 The Church of the SS Nikolaos of the Elders and Lazarus, which celebrates on this day, sees choral ensembles from various places on the island start on processions, singing the Lazarus Carols. After they end their divergent itineraries, they meet at 12:30 to sing the same carols at the old Town Hall. The event is organized by the Corfiot Events Organization (OKE). 20:00 Concert by the band of the Corfu Philharmonic Society, the island’s oldest philharmonic orchestra, at the Municipal Theatre. Palm Sunday 11:00 Procession of the Holy Relic of St Spyridon, patron saint of Corfu Town. Following Mass at the Church of St Spyridon, the longest of all annual pro- cessions of His holy relic takes place. It covers the length of the old town wall, led by the Most Revd Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu, Paxos and the * This timetable does not include all devotional services and holy masses, but only those deemed to have a special character for our guests. 6 Church music concert by the Corfu Choir at the Metropolitan Church on Friday, eve of Lazarus Saturday. Diapontian Islands. This procession was first held in 1629, in remembrance of the island’s miraculous deliverance from plague. 20:30 Concert by the “Kapodistrias” Philharmonic Association of Corfu and the ecclesiastical music division of the Corfu Choir at the Church of St George in the Old Fortress. 7 Great Holy Monday 20:30 Concert by the “Mantzaros” Philharmonic Society at the Municipal Theatre. 21:00 Sacred music concert by the Kynopiastes Philharmonic Band at the Catholic Cathedral of St. Jacob and Christopher (the Duomo). Great Holy Tuesday 21:30 Evening for poetry and music titled “From Golgotha to Resurrection”. Organized by the Corfiot Events Organization (OKE) at the Peristyle of the Palace of SS Michael and George. Great Holy Wednesday 19:00 The Service of the Laver is chanted at the Church of All Saints by the Holy Metropolis Ecclesiastical Choir “St Arsenios”, led by the Most Rev Metropolitan Nektarios. 21:00 Sacred music concert. Requiem by W.A. Mozart by the “San Giacomo” Mu- nicipal Choir and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra at the Mu- nicipal Theatre. Great Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) 20:00 The Washing of the Feet rite is performed at the Catholic Cathedral (the Duomo) of SS Giacomo and Cristoforo. During the ritual the Most Rev Archbishop Ioannis Spiteris symbolically washes the feet of twelve children. Later in the evening there follows the Service of the Royal Hours: the veneration of the Holy Eucharist and of the Stations of the Cross. Procession of the Holy Relic of St Spyridon on Palm Sunday. Good Friday All churches set forth the procession of their flower-covered Holy Sepulchres (i.e.