Christmas in Greece

In Greece when we talk about the "holidays" we are referring to the holiday period of Christmas, New Year and Epiphany.

Traditionally the Christmas holiday period lasts 12 days in Greece. There are many customs associated with the "twelve day of Christmas," some very old and others relatively recent, like the decorated tree and the turkey on the Christmas-day table.

Historically, in 354 A.D. it was arranged for the birth of Christ to be celebrated on December 25, the same day that they celebrated the birth of the ancient god Mithra, known as the "invincible sun god" and god of all solar deities in idolatry. With the change, and the turning of people towards other gods, the popularity of the "invincible sun god" dropped and Christ took his place.

Fasting at Christmas
In Greece, a fasting period would start almost 40 days before Christmas. While the fasting was predominately for religious reasons, many considered the period to be a healthful practice as well. The faithful would not eat any animal or its related products, i.e. meat, dairy or eggs.

Christmas Preperations
As Christmas drew near, preparations began so all would be ready for the big holiday. Houses would be cleaned with extra care, and a few days before Christmas housewives would prepare the Christmas cookies, which would be eaten on Christmas Day when the fasting ended.

In the past the honey cookies (melomakarona) were made exclusively for Christmas, while sugar cookies, or kourabiedes (kourabiethes, th as in this), were prepared for the New Year. Today, though, that distinction is not observed and both melomakarona and kourabiedes are prepared and consumed during the Christmas and New Year holidays period.

Greek Christmas Carols
The singing of Christmas carols is a custom which is preserved in its entirety to this day.
Children still go from house to house in twos or more singing the carols, while accompanied by the sounds of the triangle, even guitars, accordions, lyres or harmonicas.

The Greek Christmas Tree
Today almost everyone buys and decorates a Christmas tree in Greece, whether it be real or artificial. Usually they are decorated a few days before Christmas and remain in the homes until Epiphany.
The Christmas tree, assumed to be foreign, may even have some Greek roots. Use of decorated greenery and branches around New Year is recorded as far back as in Greek antiquity.
In older times, this custom did not exist in Crete and in some other parts of Greece they would decorate little boats instead.
In this photo you can see a Christmas tree and a Christmas boat displayed in a central square of Thessaloniki, northern Greece.