Christian Tradition. The local priest goes from house to house, blessing them, as tradition sets that bad spirits turn back to dust in contact with the blessed tree branches.
The following day, the blessing of waters takes place after the morning mass and then the procession to the port departures. Once there, the priest throws a well decorated small cross into the waters to symbolise Jesus’ Baptism; all the men of the town, no matter their age, dive into the sea to get the sinking cross.
The one who retrieves the decorated cross gets the priest’s blessing for the whole year.
The night before Good Friday, the women adorn the supposed Christ’s coffin with flowers, candles and ribbons for the following gloomy day when the procession takes a wooden crucified Jesus and the decorated coffin to tour the town, as boys and girls chant and the parade moves slowly along the village streets as it blesses passers-by, and it is eventually taken back to the church to rest.
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On Saturday night, at midnight, the priest and the congregation enjoy the first light from Jerusalem, symbolised by the candles they hold in their hands, as the bells and a number of fireworks announce the triumph of Jesus Christ over death.
On Easter, lambs are roasted on large spits over hot pieces of coal and the festival itself starts singing and dancing all day long.
On May 5th and 6th there is a celebration related to the fact that locusts used to invade the village by this time of the year.
They were so many that they destroyed Epidaurus’ greenery completely and the skies got fully covered by them so it grew really dark as night.
People congregated in the church and they took Saint Seraphim’s icon around the town to work the miracle of forcing the locusts to fly away into the sea and leave the place.
In the present day the locals wear traditional costumes and sing beautiful prayers. This festival is called “Redeemer’s Day”There are some church festivals in Dimena – a village nearby – in May.
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traditional costumes.
A visitor may not have enough time to enjoy all these colourful traditional festivals in Epidaurus held along the year, so this article may be useful to choose the one closest to your time of visit.
Since 1998, the harbour of Palea Epidaurus is the venue for the open-air market and annual exhibition of local products. All kinds of naturally prepared products – including cosmetics – are available, such as ceramics, marmalades, sweets, home made bread and biscuits, cheeses, wines, hilopites (a type of Greek pasta), semolina, olives and olive-related products, honey, and fruits are just some examples of the wide variety of the items offered.
This multicolour festival and market is equally enjoyed by locals and tourists and awaited with great expectation to see what the new exhibit will bring. Supported by the Friends of Music Association and the Mousikos Ioulios, it combines the advantages of showing the local goods and agricultural products to tourists with the fact that this annual festival contributes to reinforce the value of local traditions.
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