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April 07, 2021

Easter in Pontos

Here you can see some of the customs!

When Holy Week was approaching and before that, they were sweeping the houses, the yards, and the whole village. Because, during the whole of Holy Week, they did NOT do any work. The androgynes avoided quarrels and frictions. While the mothers were careful how they talked to the children so that they were tempted by "evil".

On Holy Thursday morning, the Pontians started fasting for the church in order to receive communion. The housewives did not waste a minute on the way back. They had a lot to do, starting with the general "escape". That is, the cleaning of all the crumbs of the house so that during the Resurrection everything is clean and shiny.

After the skipping, it was time to paint the eggs. The eggs were painted with onion leaves. They took onion skins and tulle from the chocolates and cut them so that they could tie the eggs. Then they covered the eggs with onion leaves and put them to boil in vinegar and water.

Painted eggs were also taken to the church, in baskets, in order to be read. In order not to confuse the baskets of the families of the village, on each basket they sewed a cloth, on which was written the name of the family.

Each basket contained as many eggs as the family members. Plus two more: the Virgin Mary and the house

The baskets were placed under the Holy Table so that the priest could "bless the ova", bless the eggs. The baskets with the eggs were taken after the Resurrection. The egg of the Virgin Mary and the house were kept until the next Resurrection, kept in the iconostasi, (where a house keeps the items of their faith). Unless the sea made a big storm, so they threw them into the sea to calm it down!

The read egg was the first bite after the Resurrection

They also put small canvas bags in the egg baskets. With wheat, corn, beans, pumpkin seeds, flour, yeast, and salt to read. The read seeds were mixed with other unread seeds, for the sake of production! The flour was thrown in the barn for a blessing.

Also on Holy Thursday they kneaded the bread and made the tsoureki.

On the night of the Resurrection, all night long, they were up. After 2.00 am, with the first roar of the rooster, the whole village went to church. Before dawn, the Resurrection came out. The litourgia took place after 4.00 am.

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday the cafes were closed. Everyone was out of the house, "crushing" eggs, a custom in which one hits the other ones egg. The adults, in groups of 3-4 people, went from house to house, together with a lyre. They danced and cracked eggs.

Second Resurrection

After the Second Resurrection, the visits began. The housewives offered the guests raki with meze "fustoron", cheese, etc. The visits continued until the evening. In some places the custom of Judas was common. The relevant model was burned after the second Resurrection.


Easter Monday

On Easter Monday, dances and feasts were held in the threshing floors or in open spaces. There, accompanied by the Pontian lyre, they danced and sang all day.

The three days of Lambri in Pontos were called "Lambroimera".

Like each area, Pontos has its own customs, tell us the customs of your area!

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