History - Tradition

"CHRISTOPSOMO" (GREEK CHRISTMAS BREAD)

The "Christ’s Bread" or ‘Christopsomo’, as its name says, was made by housewives on Christmas Eve with religiosity using a special yeast. On the top of this, they always carved the cross and they made various drawings and ornaments with dough around it. On Christmas Day, the househusband, after crossing Christopsomo, he cut it into pieces and distributed it to the members of the family.

Two to three days before the Christmas day, they baked loaves of bread. One of those was the ‘Christ’s Bread’ (Christopsomo) that had the shape of cross and it can be eaten on Christmas day and the other ones were made with almonds and walnuts.

"Christmas Carols or Kalanta"

The children chant the Christmas carols or ‘Kalanta’ either on the Eve or on the Christmas Day. The children ask if they could sing the carols and the housewife answers "yes," then the children start singing the carols that always end them with wishes for prosperity (‘good luck’) to the house all year round. In the past, every company that used to say the carols knocked the doors of the houses with wood and as soon as their housewife opened it was headed to the fireplace and mixed the fire with the wood, saying wishes for the New Year. In the end, the children shared candies and various other treats that they received as a price for carols and greetings.

"Breaking the Pomegranate"

On the morning of New Year's Eve, the family goes to the church and the the man of the house has a pomegranate in his pocket. Returning home, he has to hit the doorbell - he can’t open the door by himself with his key – in order to be the first who will enter into the house for first footing, with a pomegranate in his hand.

Entering, with the right foot, he breaks the pomegranate behind the front door, throwing it down with force to break it and throw its seeds everywhere saying at the same time: "for health, happiness and joy for the New Year’s Day and as many as the pomegranate seeds are so much money to have in our pocket all year round. " The kids are gathered around and look if the pomegranate seeds are crisp and reddish. As grainy and beautiful are the seeds, so happy and blessed will be the days that brings with it the New Year.

"The hunting on the villages of Mani"

On the villages of Mani, during the Lent of Christmas, most of the children were going for hunting. In the evenings, when the dusk fell for good and the cold was sharp, they took the "flashlight" and walked around to the ruins and caves near the village. Their target was the ‘gourgougiannides’, the small birds that were hiding into the caves. They blurred with the flashlights and caught them. If they were too high, they hit them with the slings. The mother or the older sister, after a lot of moaning, gut the birds and salted. They put them in ceramic or glass jars, in order to eat them on Christmas.

Some of the children were picking up twenty and more birds feeling proud for their hunting skills and their crop. When the festive period of Christmas was approached, the traditional preparations began. The house had to be decorated and the whole village to be cleaned up and was ready to welcome its immigrants who would come to celebrate with their families.