On this page we will refer to several Folkways which used to exist in our community in the old years. A lot of them are still followed today.
Christmas Customs
From the beginning of December a high activity concerning the preparations for Christmas is observed in the households of the community. This includes house cleaning, dusting, polishing, tidying up the furniture, baking of crisp-breads in the brick ovens and painting of the internal and sometimes the external and surrounding walls.
On Christmas day people go to church. They receive Holy Communion and exchange wishes and kisses. Next, they all go home and the entire family sits around the table and eats pork in a happy festive family environment.
In the old years, a few days before Christmas, the villagers would butcher a pig which they had raised for this purpose and would put it in boiled water to remove its hair. Using pork meat they would make cured pork loin, ham and sausages. The head and the legs would be used to make a kind of pork gel using bitter orange juice called “zaladina”. The sausages would be hanged high in the fireplace so that they would roast slowly. The rest would be half-cooked and kept in clay containers along with their fat which helped preserving them. This way, people were able to stock up on food for quite some time.
New Year Day’s Customs
At noon of New Year’s Day, after lunch, the man of the house would cut the Saint Basil’s pie which included a lucky coin. Whoever found the coin in their piece would be considered the lucky person of the year. Based on old Cypriot customs, when the villagers came back from the church they had to enter the house using their right foot so that everything would go as planned during the year.
On New Year’s Day villagers would also play various lucky card games at the village’s coffee shops, as well as in different houses until morning.
Theophany Day
On the eve of Theophany day, housewives would make “loukoumades”, meaning pastries made of deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup which they would consume with their families. Next, they would actually throw some of them on the roofs of their houses so that the hobgoblins would eat and go away. After the end of the mass, the priest of the village, accompanied by two children who carried a bucket full of holy water, would visit all the houses and bless them with holy water. In the past, the residents used to offer the priest traditional delicacies such as “kiofterka”, sausages and raisins. Inside the two buckets the residents would throw some coins which were taken by the two children who escorted the priest.
“Sikoses”
“Sikoses” is a period which begins on the Sunday of the Carnival and continues until Shrovetide Sunday, that is the following Sunday.
On Shrovetide Sunday several people would wear their carnival costumes and would visit the homes of relatives and friends disguised. All the relatives and friends would gather to 4-5 houses of the village where a big feast party used to take place. On Green Monday, the residents would go to the fields where they would fast.
EasterCustoms
During the days before Easter, housewives in the village clean the entire house. On Holy Thursday they paint the eggs red so that they can chink them together after the Resurrection. On Holy Friday they prepare their crisp-breads and their Breads of Life, as well as the famous traditional savoury delicacy called “flaouna”. With regards to the making of the “flaouna”, visit our page dedicated to tradition.
PalmSunday: On that day housewives take some olive tree branches to the church and leave them there until the Pentecost so that the olive branch becomes sacred before taking it back home to “smoke” and bless the family. “Smoking” the house by burning olive tree leaves as a form of blessing is believed to be able to free a family from all evil and envy.
On Holy Thursday the icons on the iconostasis are covered with black cloth as a sign of grieve. On the same night a crucified Jesus is placed in the church, while a replica of Apostle John and Jesus’ mother are placed on Jesus’ right and left respectively.
All villagers go to church to worship the holy cross and listen to the 12 gospels referring to the sufferings, the crucifixion and the death of Christ.
On Holy Friday morning the epitaph is decorated. Girls and youngsters sing the epitaph mourning psalm, while three women dressed as myrrh-bearers spread myrrh, fragrances and flowers on Jesus. At night, the epitaph’s circumambulation takes place along the central street of the village.
On HolySaturdaymorning, during the mass, the loyal begin to repeatedly raise the bench seats and slam them hard as soon as the priest says “God has risen from the dead” so that the black cloth covering the icons will fall to unveil them.
At around 11 pm, the bells ring joyfully to invite all Christians to attend the most joyful mass of Christianity. For the mass to begin, all villagers had to be present at the church. In case someone was absent, their absence had to be justified by a neighbour or relative.
Outside the church, in the forecourt, Christians would lit a pile of timber called “Lampratzia”. At midnight, the priest invites the loyal to light their candles with the holy light while coming out of the church for the litany along with the psalters. Everybody lights their candles using the Holy light of the Resurrection before exiting the church. There, the priest will perform the liturgy and everybody will sing Christ is Risen.
After the mass of the Resurrection, everybody goes back home with their Holy Light burning candles, which they will preserve for 40 days. At home they will chink red eggs while saying “Christ is Risen’, ‘Truly Risen’ before finally drinking some frumenty or egg-lemon soup and eating eggs and “flaounes”.
On Sunday villagers will grill the traditional lamb which will roll on a spike and they will enjoy Easter together. In the afternoon, the Community Council organizes various events at the village square, which include traditional games. These events continue on both the Monday and Tuesday of Easter.
TRADITIONAL CYPRIOT WEDDING
Matchmaking
Matchmaking would be done by either a matchmaker or a relative, who would talk to the bride’s parents. For the girl’s parents to accept the groom would have to come from a good family, be hardworking and rich. If he came from another village, they would visit the village themselves to ask the villagers and the neighbours about the groom. Most of the times, the girl’s opinion was not taken into consideration.
Betrothal (Logiasma)
At the betrothal the family of the bride would invite close relatives such as the couples god mothers and god fathers, their aunts and uncles, grandparents, siblings and the priest, who would compile a prenuptial agreement which was in fact legally valid. Written in the prenuptial agreement was the dowry that the parents would give their children. After the betrothal procedure was finished, a feast accompanied by songs would take place.
Engagement
Not all villagers were invited to the engagement party. During the engagement ceremony the groom and the bride would exchange rings and handkerchiefs, whereas the father of the bride was responsible for providing a house for them to live in.
Wedding preparations
The invitations to the wedding would be given a month before by the newlyweds’ parents and that included handing out handkerchiefs, breads and candles. The making of the traditional dish called “resi” would begin two to three days before the wedding.
On Thursday night, everybody would meet to wash the wheat that they would use for the preparation of “resi”. On Saturday morning all the villagers would gather again to crash the wheat so that the “resi” could be cooked more easily. Both these events were accompanied by a violin, a lute and traditional songs. For further information regarding the preparation of “resi”, visit the page on Traditional.
WEDDING SUNDAY
The sewing of the bed would take place on Sunday morning. The festive atmosphere included an orchestra with a violin and a lute, dancing, singing and rhyming (tsattista). The newlyweds’ bed would be stuffed with virgin sheep wool and then sewn by 5 or 7 women who had been married only once. At the time of the sewing the orchestra would play soft music and the relatives and friends would sing couplets or quatrains suitable to the occasion. Moreover, the relatives of the couple would place money on the bed.
Next, the best men would do the bed dance. According to an old custom, just before they started dancing, little children used to be rolled onto the bed. If a boy was rolled then it was believed that the couple would first give birth to a boy. If a girl was rolled on the bed, then it was believed that their first child would be a girl.
Preparation of the bride
In the afternoon of the Sunday of the wedding, shortly before taking the groom and the bride to the church, the bride would get dressed at her parents’ house. She would put on her wedding dress and have her hair done, whereas her parents would place a belt around her waist and bless her.
The bride’s maids of honour would help her get ready and while doing so, friends and relatives would sing accompanied by the music of a violin and a lute.
Shaving the groom
The shaving of the groom would also take place at his parents’ house. Before being shaved, the groom would put on his clothes and a barber would shave him and do his hair, while a violinist would play his music. Then, the best man would help the groom put on his shirt and jacket while singing the relevant couplets and quatrains with the groom’s friends and relatives.
From their house, the groom’s parents would escort him to the forecourt of the church while being accompanied by a violinist. Next, the bride would come with her own escorts.
After the end of the wedding ceremony, on their way to their new house, the newlyweds would sprinkle the people with a type of rose water. This was considered to be a personal invitation to the party that was to follow.
Monday of the wedding
On the Monday after the wedding, at night, a feast would take place at the newlyweds’ house. The newlyweds would sit at a table set with spoon sweets (walnut and cherry sweets). The guests would come and wish to the newlyweds, give them their presents (they were usually given money) and take a sweet as a favour. Then, a dancing party would follow. Late at night, the couple would stand and dance and the relatives would hang banknotes on their clothes.
Tuesday of the wedding
In the afternoon of the Tuesday of the wedding, the relatives would walk around the village and take hens from the villagers, hang them on a pole and take them to the newlyweds’ house where they butchered them, cooked them and had fun .
After Wedding Party (Antigamos)
On the first Sunday after the wedding, the newlyweds would invite all their friends and relatives to their house for a feast party. That party was also known as “antigamos”.
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