Religious festival of great importance

The Greek Orthodox Easter begins with Lent one month before Holy Week. Many Greek families still observe Lent today. The Passion Services determine family life during Holy Week.

Good Friday: One of the highlights in the Easter liturgies is the Good Friday Mass. At the end of the liturgy, a monument decorated with flowers, the epitaph, is carried out of the church with great devotion. The faithful light their candles at the epitaph and a procession runs through the whole place to the sound of old church chants. In order for the orchestras to be able to accompany the processions of all churches, they begin in Corfu Town at 14 p.m.

Easter Saturday: At 9am there is the procession of Saint Spiridon to commemorate the island's salvation from famine in 1550. Following an old custom from the Venetian era, the epitaph of St. Spiridon's church is carried here. The music clubs play "Calde Lacrime" by Michelli, "Hamlet" by Faccio and the funeral march from Beethoven's "Eroica".

At 11 o'clock in the morning is the first resurrection and the jars fall. This noisy custom started in the city and has spread across the island. It also goes back to a Venetian tradition in which old objects were thrown out of the window on New Year's Day so that the new year might bring something new. Today, Corfiots throw clay jars filled with water out of windows so that they make a loud bang on impact.

In the Pinia, the old market district of Corfu Town, there is the custom of diving in the bucket. A tub is decorated with myrtles and ribbons and passers-by are asked to throw coins and lucky charms into the water. With the first stroke of the bell, a volunteer dives into the vat for the resurrection and fishes out the coins.

In the country, the Easter lamb is slaughtered after the first resurrection. To bless the house, a cross is drawn with its blood on the lintel above the entrance.

As in all of Greece, on the evening of Easter Saturday in Corfu, the resurrection ceremony takes place on a specially built grandstand in front of the church. In some villages it is customary to lock the church doors.

In Corfu City, the bishop celebrates the resurrection ceremony in the presence of thousands of people. The resurrection itself is heralded with fireworks and the rattle of Tschinellen. The music bands stride through the city with happy rhythms, followed by the singing people. The festival continues until the early morning, with “majiritsa” (inner egg soup), Easter eggs, yeast plaits, “Kolombines” (Venetian Easter biscuits in the shape of a dove) and lots of wine. It is the end of Lent and Christ's resurrection is being welcomed.

On Easter Sunday at 7 a.m., the parishes holding an icon of the Resurrection parade through the main streets. The parades end around 10 a.m. Unlike the rest of Greece, lamb on a spit for Easter Sunday has only recently been introduced to Corfu and is not part of the original tradition.

According to an old custom, there is “Avgolemono soup” (egg and rice soup) for lunch on Easter Sunday, with two or three meat dishes; the lamb is kept for the next day. The Easter eggs are knocked open and the shells are glued to the doors or scattered in the garden to bless the harvest.

In Corfu, the week after Easter is called “New Week” and accordingly the days “New Monday”, “New Tuesday” etc. This underlines the great religious significance of these days, which are celebrated with devotions and processions.