Traditional Easter in Karpathos

Olympos is a village climbed at the highest mountain of Karpathos in the southern Aegean sea, and is becoming more and more popular especially in the Easter and the summer time, because of the old fashioned way of living of the local people.

The residents of Olympos Of the Dodecanese island of Karpathos do not pretend to live with their tradition
ways but they really live in a way that it is dead in most parts of the world. What if telephony is an innovation for the village of Olympos (telephony was installed less tha 15 years ago) and what if National Geographic has done a full report of one of the most isolated villages of Greece (the report was published under the title: Eternal Easter in a Greek Village) that stands at the edge between the Aegean and the Libyan Sea, the ways of the people haven’t changed a bit, and visitors come from all around the world to see them. People of Olympos still talk using the archaic Dorian dialect, following the rhythm of the old Byzantine music and hymns and everything that is being seeing in the holy week springs out through their memories and their heritage which still stands strong, resisting in the passing time and it is passed from generation to generation intact. For centuries now, time has respected this incredible beauty of a place and its unique traditions as well as the village architecture, which have made the village into a living folklore museum. It is characteristic that even today most of the women residents are dressed with their local-traditional costumes.

Something that is worth noticing is the food that is consumed in Karpathos during the holy days, that it is different from the one in the rest of the Greek mainland. In Karpathos, instead of spit roasting the Easter lamb, the custom is to stuff it with rice, split grain, and intestines. It is prepared in this way on Holy Saturday. It is then put into the traditional Karpathos oven, which is sealed with mud and clay. On Easter Day, the oven is opened and the lamb is eaten accompanied by local wine and traditional dances and sounds of lyra.

Olympos will fully repay those visitors that will choose it, to spend their Easter vacations, and is a well worth it place to choose for those holy days.

Easter is the greatest celebration of Greece. Most people desire to spend their Easter vacations in traditional places, far away from the city light and noises. Any more Ideas?