CUSTOMS AND HABITS AT EASTER Easter celebrations last three days and follow the Ionian tradition, according to which the Resurrection liturgy doesn't take place at Easter Saturday night but at Easter Sunday morning, and people break red eggs right after church and start dancing outside the church.
Wedding Weddings were in the past a social event that gave people the chance to have fun. A wedding, that almost always took place on a Sunday, would be a major event for all the neighborhood for a week before. Very early in the morning on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the close relatives and the neighbors would gather at the bride's and at the groom's house all necessary kitchen utensils, as well as tables and chairs and anything else that would be necessary to serve the guests at the wedding celebration. On Thursday and Friday, they would prepare the bread of the wedding table. On Saturday morning, they would go to all houses in the village and invite everyone at the wedding. In the afternoon of the same day, they would take the bride's clothes to the groom's house.
They would pack them in baskets and carry them on their head, singing all the way; the parade would always start with a standard, the symbol of joy and love. As soon as the clothes arrived at the groom's house, unmarried girls would make the bed, and the relatives would put on the bed a little boy, because they believed that this would cause the couple's first child to be a boy. On Sunday morning, unmarried girls helped the bride prepare for the wedding, which lasted several hours, while they sang traditional songs. When the bride was ready, the groom would come to her house, accompanied by relatives friends and altogether they would go to church. After the wedding ceremony, the wedding celebrations started at the groom's house, accompanied by music and songs all night long.
Mandata When a ship with food or passengers arrived from Corfu, all islanders would rush to the port to hear the news. Especially at Mathraki, which is very small, right after the arrival of a boat, someone would go th a higher place and start shouting the news to everyone. Five minutes later, from one mouth to another, the news had been spread. |