Cypriot Easter traditions include fasting for 50 days before Easter called "Sarakosti" where meat and dairy are avoided. Palm Sunday involves taking palm leaves to church. Flaounes, cheese and herb pastries, are baked on Holy Thursday along with dyeing eggs red. Black veils are put on church icons to mourn Christ's crucifixion on Holy Thursday. Flowers decorate the "Epitafios" or Holy Sepulchre on Good Friday for a procession. People celebrate Christ's resurrection at midnight on Holy Saturday and have an "avgolemoni" soup feast. They crack dyed eggs on Easter Sunday and play traditional games on Monday.

1. CYRPUS
EASTER TRADITIONS

2. Easter
• Easter is a movable celebration and it’s the
greatest holiday of the Orthodox Church.
• It is always celebrated on the first Sunday
following the full moon of the spring equinox.
• Holy Week is dedicated to church-going and
to baking.

3. Easter Fasting is for 50 days and in Cyprus is
called “Sarakosti”. Christians must not eat
meat, dairy products and oil.

4. Palm Sunday
• On this Sunday people take palm
leaves and olive leaves to the
church and follow the icon of Christ around the
church in a procession commemorating Christ's
entry into Jerusalem.
Olive leaves are put into
pillow-case-like sacks and
are kept in the church for
forty days after which
they can be used for incense burning.

5. On Holy Thursday Flaounes are
baked. Flaounes are made of
short crust with cheese, egg,
raisins and mint filling, formed
into triangular and square
shapes

6. On Holy Thursday eggs are boiled and dyed red
to symbolise Christ’s blood from
the cross, with a special root
called “rizari”. Some other
people paint their eggs
in various colours.

7. The crucifixion of Christ is on Holy Thursday and
people go to church to mourn. The church’s
icons are covered with black veils
to show their grief.

8. “Epitafios”
On Holy Friday everyone
brings flowers to the church
so that the young girls can
decorate the “Epitafios”
Holy Sepulchre.

10. The procession starts
after the evening
service with the priests
proceeding. Young men
carry the “epitafios”
outside the church,
around the
neighborhood and back
to the church again.
People follow the
“epitafios” around
through the whole
procession.

12. Holy Saturday
On Saturday morning people go to church and as soon
as it is announced by the priests that Christ is no longer
in His grave, the church doors and church sits are
banged by the people, and all the black veils that cover
the Holy Icons drop.

13. The real sermon of resurrection happens at midnight. Everybody
goes to church and celebrates the resurrection of Christ. During
the midnight sermon, candles are lit by the holy light and people
are custommed to take the Holy Light at their houses for
blessing.

14. Judas, the Christ’s traitor, is burned in the church yard.
This is a tradition we call “Lambratzia”. Kids collect
wood for weeks to set up an enormous burning spot
for Judas.

16. After the midnight sermon the whole
family gathers together for a feast.
People eat a special kind of soup
called “avgolemoni”. They also crack
the boiled dyed eggs and say
“Christos Anesti”, which means Christ
has risen from the dead, and the
response is “Alithos Anesti”, which
means indeed he has risen.

17. Holy Sunday
On Sunday, people crack eggs again. They eat roasted
lamb, “flaounes” and drink wine. As they sit at the table
one person starts creating a
rhyme for a particular person
either to tease him or to
show his love to a woman at
the table and is obligated to
get an answer back on that.
This whole process is called
“tchatismata”.

18. On Monday after Easter traditional
games are played. Some of them are
mentioned below.
“Kamilos”,
“ Ziziros”,
.
Racing

19. BUON PASQUA
HAPPY EASTER
ΚΑΛΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ