Christmas in Cyprus

Christmas in Cyprus

The Christmas period is a religious holiday, the Cypriot people honour Christ. There are services at all Churches on Christmas Eve and early Christmas Morning. Before Christmas arrives, the housewives start the preparations for the twelve holy days. The Holy Twelve days of Christmas, six days in the “old” year and six days in the “new” year, include the three feast days-Christmas day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany.

Turkeys are now part of Christmas in Cyprus and Christmas Day will see the traditional turkey Christmas dinner! The children get their presents on New Year’s Day as Santa Claus is “Agios Vasilis” whom is celebrated on this day.
After bedtime on New Year’s Eve, the mothers would put out the presents under the tree with “Santa’s” cake with a coin inside the cake, and a glass of wine next to it for “Santa” to refresh himself.

The children wake really early on New Year’s Day and rush to cut the cake, for someone to find the coin. The person who finds the coin will be lucky all year. After the cake cutting, it’s time for presents!! For the New Year’s Day feast, much traditional baking takes place, including the cake with the lucky coin. After attending the service in church, the different families will embrace and wish each other everything that is good.

On the 6th January, the children would again rise early and go to their grandparents’ homes. After reciting a small poem, the children receive gifts of money. Christ was baptized in the River Jordon on Epiphany Day (The Feast of Light) which is the 6th January. In all seaside towns or villages, it is traditional for the Priest to lead a procession down to the sea where the ceremonial Baptism is enacted. Suring the ceremony, the leading Priest will cast the Holy Cross into the sea and young men dive into the sea to try to retrieve the cross and returning it to the Priest.