CELEBRATING
SAINTS
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- Celebrating Saints
FESTIVALS IN HONOUR OF THE SAINTS
As a Greek Orthodox Island, there is always a saint’s name day being celebrated in Cyprus. Name Days are as big as birthdays on the island as many Greek Cypriot names are those of saints. Sharing the savoury mini pastries ‘almira’ is also a (tasty) part of the name day celebrations!
The bigger name saint days are celebrated with a traditional festival / fete (‘panagiri’), by the villages where there is a church named in honour of the saint. A procession of the saint’s icon takes place during the evening’s church service and the panagiri is held in the grounds of the church and the streets surrounding it.
The panagiri consists of stalls with various goods, as well as some traditional games like ‘kazantzi’ – a numbers game of luck where you can win prizes. You can usually find stalls selling nuts and dried fruits, including the grape must sweet shoushoukos.
You will also find some very distinctive foods at a panagiri, such as loukoumades – honey dough balls (a syrup-drenched donut in essence) and shamishi (fried pastry envelopes filled with sweet semolina paste). The September festivals always feature corn cobs cooked on street barbeques – the best way to cook corn cobs in my humble opinion!
Some of the biggest panagiria taking place on the island are:
Saints Constantine and Helena's Day
- Tsada Village (Paphos region)
- Tochni Village (Larnaca region)
This saint’s name day is huge in Cyprus as there are so many people named after these two saints (Costantinos, Costas, Dino, Costantia, Tina etc) and Helena (Elena, Eleni etc). Everyone in Cyprus knows someone to give their congratulations (‘na ziseis’) to on this date! Helena was the mother of Constantine and also founded many churches on the island with pieces of the Holy Cross that she took to the site of each. The church in Tochni sits uniquely on a bridge.
Dormition of Virgin Mary (Assumption Day)
- Kykkos Monastery (Pedoulas, Troodos)
- Chrysorrogiatissa monastery (Paphos region)
- Agia Napa monastery (Ammochostos region)
- Chrysospiliotissa church (Deftera village - Nicosia region)
- Liopetri village (Ammochostos region)
- Kiti village (Larnaka region).
This is the biggest religious saint’s day and is held to mark the date that the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven. It is also the main summer bank holiday. Panagiria are held across the island at various churches and monasteries, so if you are visiting in August, you are never far from a big celebration!
The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Agia Napa Monastery / Arakapas village (Limassol region)
A celebration to mark the birth date of the Virgin Mary. In Agia Napa the day is celebrated at its new church and the old monastery (by the commercial square), which got its name from the village icon of ‘Virgin Mary of Napes’, which means ‘the Saint of the woods’. There are stalls and entertainment, and it is quite a large event as it falls during the extension of the summer tourist season.
Dormition of Virgin Mary (Assumption Day)
- Kykkos Monastery (Pedoulas, Troodos)
- Chrysorrogiatissa monastery (Paphos region)
- Agia Napa monastery (Ammochostos region)
- Chrysospiliotissa church (Deftera village - Nicosia region)
- Liopetri village (Ammochostos region)
- Kiti village (Larnaka region).
This is the biggest religious saint’s day and is held to mark the date that the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven. It is also the main summer bank holiday. Panagiria are held across the island at various churches and monasteries, so if you are visiting in August, you are never far from a big celebration!
The Feast of Saint Phocas
- Atheniou village, Larnaka region
The Feast of Saint Phocas is Athienou village’s biggest festival and is included on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Hierarchical Divine Liturgy is a grand affair and the panagiri spreads out to the central streets.