Christmas Customs in Greece

1. 1
Greek Christmas Traditions

2. Christmas Boat
The Christmas boat, or "karavaki" as
Greeks refer to it, is the most traditionally
Greek custom you'll encounter
throughout the holiday season. As sailors,
the Greeks decorated boats rather than
Christmas trees in the past. The
connection among Greece and the sea is
the source of the "karavakia" tradition.
According to legend, it was a gesture of
appreciation to Saint Nicholas, the patron
saint of sailors, for guarding those who
worked at sea.

3. Vasilopita Cake
Vasilopita is the traditional Greek cake or
bread served at midnight on New Year’s
Eve to celebrate the life of Saint Basil. A
coin is pushed through the base of the
Vasilopita cake. When cut, it is stated
that the finder will have prosperity for the
remainder of their year! Vasilopita can be
made of a variety of doughs, depending
on the region, with almost every family
having their own unique recipe.

4. Greek Christmas Carols
The Greek tradition of
kalanda, or singing
Christmas carols, on
Christmas Eve is one with
a long and interesting
history. This is a tradition
that is still in place today
and is a big part of the way
Greek celebrate Christmas.
The custom of Kalanda, which dates back to Byzantine
periods in which children would carry miniature boats
and sing songs in honour of Dionysius, has been an
integral part of Christmas festivities in Greece for
numerous years. The tradition of praising the head of
household also began in Ancient Greece

5. Greek Traditional
Sweets
It would be unquestionably
hard put to find a Greek
house at Christmas time
that isn’t overflowing
with traditional, Greek
Christmas sweets.
Some examples are the
snowy, sugary
kourampiedes and the
syrupy melomakarona.

6. Greek dessert known as melomakarono appears like an egg and is mostly composed of flour,
olive oil, and honey. Sticky sweet and soaked in honey, with a tang of spicy cloves. It is a
customary dessert made mostly around the Christmas season. It is also known as finikia.
Greek Melomakarona

7. Greek Santa
The universally recognized symbol of
Christmas is the jolly, chubby, red-suited
Santa Claus. But in Greece, he’s a little
different. 'Agios Vasilis', which equates
to Saint Basil or Basil of Caesarea, is the
given name of the Greek version of
Santa Claus.
Saint Basil the Great, one of the Three
Hierarchs, became known for tending to the
sick, constructing hospitals, and providing for
the impoverished; as a result, he earned the
title of "the saint who gives gifts at
Christmas" in Greece.

8. Tradition dictates that on
New Year's Eve, shortly after
midnight, the homeowner
stands in front of the house's
doorway and smashes a
pomegranate by tossing it on
the threshold.
For thousands of years, the
pomegranate has been associated
with good luck, fertility, and
prosperity in Greece and Greek
mythology. Pomegranates were
frequently used in Christmas
decorations and hung from house
doors during the holiday season.
Breaking the
pomegranate

9. THANKS FOR
WATCHING
Greece is full of unusual customs
that revolve around history,
community, and cuisine but in the
end the magic of Christmas stays the
same…