Christmas in Greece

Locals visit the festive church service on Christmas Eve and feast with the family like most Christians worldwide, but apart from that, Greek Christmas celebrations are very peculiar.

Greeks value their cultural heritage and haven’t adopted many western Christmas customs. They prefer to embrace their own traditions, and it deserves respect.

If you visit Greece at Christmas time, visit the Florina fire festival, see thousands of lanterns floating in the sky, or witness amazing decorations on Athens streets, but be aware of the evil Greek hobgoblins that wreak havoc at night!

When Is Christmas Celebrated in Greece?

The date of Christmas in Greece often raises confusion. Although Greeks are an overwhelmingly Orthodox nation, most locals celebrate Christmas on December 25 like Catholic Christians. Why so?

Centuries ago, everyone used the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. Unfortunately, the Julian calendar wasn’t very accurate because its average year was 365.25 days instead of the actual value of the solar year of 365.24219 days.

For this reason, in the 16th century, Pope Gregory Xlll introduced a revised calendar which we use today, the Gregorian calendar. The reform was meant to stop the calendar drift. Most of the world accepted the reform, but the Orthodox church didn’t.

Consequently, Catholics and Orthodox celebrate religious holidays with a 13-day difference, although Orthodox Christians use the revised calendar in daily life. However, in the 1920s, the Greek Orthodox Church adopted the Gregorian calendar.

As a result, Greeks celebrate Christmas on the same day as Americans and most Europeans, although they are prevalently Orthodox.

Athens As Center of Christmas Celebrations

Christmas festivities are lively and vibrant in every Greek town, but the center of celebrations is undoubtedly Athens, the capital city of Greece.

Free performances and events take place in Athens central square every night throughout the Christmas season, and every street of the city glistens in fairy lights.

Europeans can feel at home by attending the Athens Hilton Christmas village, where they can shop for handmade goods and festive treats, drink mulled wine, meet with Santa, and listen to traditional caroling.

Ice skating beneath the Acropolis ruins is a truly magical experience, and those wishing to enjoy a picturesque city view can visit the top floor of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre.

On Christmas Eve, thousands of people attend the Midnight Mass in the church of Saint Panteleimon of Acharnai, the largest church in Greece.

Christmas Food in Greece

Like in the rest of the world, food is an essential element of Greek Christmas celebrations, but don’t expect to see a familiar roast turkey or glazed ham on the Greek festive table.

The traditional Greek Christmas feast starts with avgolemono soup made with chicken, eggs, rice, and lemon. The consistency varies, but most people prefer it thicker than regular soup.

Next come stuffed with minced meat and rice cabbage leaves known as yiaprakia, popular in most eastern countries. Greeks eat this dish year-round, but it’s a must-have on any holiday. Yiaprakia is usually topped with sour cream or lemon sauce.

The main dish is typically pork – whether whole roasted pork, pork puff pastries, or pork stew. However, Greeks usually eat only fish until the first star appears in the sky because they observe the Nativity Fast, so seafood dishes are also common.

When it comes to desserts, Greeks prefer local recipes to gingerbread and fruitcakes. Melomakarona, delicious cinnamon and clove-flavored cookies with orange zest sprinkled with nuts and topped with syrup, are the favorite treat of all local kids and adults.

Kourabiedes is another traditional Greek Christmas dessert, made with toasted almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, orange blossom water, and generously dusted with icing sugar.

Diples are a simple yet delicious treat – dough envelopes fried in olive oil and covered with cinnamon, walnuts, and honey. A Greek Christmas dinner wouldn’t be complete without Christopsomo, Christ’s bread.

Greeks bake Christ’s bread from the most expensive, fresh ingredients, often with fruits, olives, nuts, or other add-ons. The loaf is typically decorated with an “X” on the top – the first letter of the Greek word for Christ.

Traditional Christmas Boats

The Greek Christmas boat tradition is a unique and long-standing one, deeply rooted in Greek culture. Since ancient times, Greeks adorn their boats with lights on Christmas Eve, and those who don’t own a boat make small models to decorate.

Children carry their handmade boat models around the town, singing carols to their neighbors. Some families display their boats on the fireplace or Christmas table.

It isn’t unusual to see a giant boat made from fairy lights in Greek town squares or shopping malls, often displayed next to a Christmas tree.

Boat in Christianity is a powerful symbol representing the Church itself and the Kingdom of Christ. Jesus told his disciples to follow him, and he would make them the fishers of men.

Even the central seating area of the Christian church is called Nave, derived from the Latin word for ship. A ship’s mast forms a cross, representing Christ and his sacrifice.

In Greek mythology, a boat represents the journey of life – for example, Odyssey went on his spiritual journey by boat. Nowadays, Greeks decorate boats to celebrate the birth of Christ and ensure a lucky year.

Christmas Lanterns

The city of Volos in the central part of Greece has a unique Christmas tradition of lighting up paper lanterns on December 26. People come to the seashore at night and release thousands of lanterns into the sky.

The lanterns represent the wishes Greek people make for Christmas, and by releasing them into the sky, people hope their dreams will be fulfilled.

The custom has been raising controversy lately because of its environmental impact, but thousands of lanterns floating in the black sky is an impressive, inspiring view regardless.

Christmas Goblins

One of the unique Greek Christmas traditions is Kallikantzaroi, mischievous goblins who come up to the surface from the center of the Earth during the Twelve Days of Christmas, from Christmas Eve to Epiphany, to wreak havoc.

According to Greek pagan beliefs, these goblins live in the Earth’s center and spend their time sawing the Tree of Life that holds the entire world. Goblins are short, black, and almost blind, speaking with a lisp and feeding on worms and frogs.

Kallikantzaroi only come out at night and are afraid of holy water and fire, so Greeks keep them away by lighting candles or sprinkling fireplaces, keyholes, and windows with holy water.

Each of the Kallikantzaroi causes its own mischief, whether eating everything in the house, stealing sweets, or making loud noises with pans.

Florina Fires

In the Greek northern city Florina, people gather in the main city square to witness the burning of large fires on Christmas Eve. The tradition stems from pagan times when people would burn fires to celebrate the winter solstice in appreciation of the god of the sun.

Nowadays, Florina fires represent the light of Christ or the star that led the Magi to infant Jesus. Fire also wards off Kallikantzaroi!

Christmas Decorations in Greece

Like most Christians, Greeks decorate a Christmas tree. The tradition arrived in Greece in the mid-19th century, when King Otto set up a fir next to a decorated boat. Nowadays, many Greeks decorate both the Christmas tree and a boat.

Greek mountains are covered with evergreen trees, so there’s no shortage of real Christmas trees. However, Greek firs are short, so Christmas trees in city squares are typically faux, made from metal, wood, or plastic, and adorned with sparkling lights.

Greek Christmas tree ornaments often feature Christian symbols, including fish, boat, cross, star, dove, trinity, and Chi Rho.

Overall, Christmas decorations in Greece are much like in other countries, featuring popular holiday symbols like angels, stars, and baubles. However, since Greece has a warm climate, symbols related to snow are uncommon.

Gift Exchange

Gift exchange is integral to Christmas celebrations in many countries, but not in Greece. Since Greeks are Orthodox Christians, they have a slightly different perception of the holiday and the gift-giving tradition in particular.

Catholics exchange gifts for Christmas to commemorate the Magi who brought gifts to infant Jesus, but they didn’t come to him on the day of his birth but later. For this reason, Orthodox Christians exchange gifts on New Year’s Day or Epiphany.

However, some Greeks adopted the western tradition of Christmas gift-giving. Still, most people only give gifts to children. Many kids receive gifts twice, on Christmas and New Year’s.

Surfing Santas & Santa Run

Although Greeks don’t customarily exchange gifts for Christmas, they do have traditions related to Santa Claus, but pretty peculiar ones. One of such odd Greek Christmas customs is stand-up surfing in Santa suits.

Stand-up surfing is a popular sport in the region of Parga, so locals and tourists dress up in full Santa suits or swimming shorts and Santa jackets when going surfing to spread holiday cheer.

In Chania, a town in western Crete, locals dress up as Santa and gather on the main city square to participate in a parade known as Santa Run. The money collected by the parade participants goes towards charity.

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