Carnival is a very special time in Greece. It is a three weeklong period that belongs to the Easter festival. So it is a religious event with an old tradition. The whole period is called “Apokries” which means abstention of meat because it ends with the 48 days long fasting […]
Cultural & Religious Occasions
18 posts
Every year on the 28th of October the people in Greece and the Greek communities all around the world celebrate a very special historical moment. In 1940, during the Second World War Benito Mussolini presented a ultimatum, to the Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxa, which demanded Greece allow Axis forces to […]
The 11th of November is a very special and important day for the inhabitants of Chios Island. More than hundred years ago the island was occupied by Turkey for many years. The population was oppressed, their rights were restricted. But the population of Chios wanted to be an independent part […]
It is that time of the year again – Greek Carnival. This Celebration marks the beginning of a 3 week period known as „Αποκριά (Apokria)“. The first week is the so called preannouncement week, the second week is the week of meat, and the third week the week of cheese, […]
Every year on the 21st of November the Orthodox Church celebrates “The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple” in the Catholic Church better known as “Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. Theotokos is the Greek title for Mary, translated it means “the one who gave birth to […]
On the 11th of November, Chios celebrates its liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1912. As the 11th is a Sunday this year, our schools celebrated already on Friday the 9th of November.
On the 4th of July 2018, Vrontados celebrated its 100th anniversary on the square in front of the unknown sailor statue. After most visitors had taken a place, the first speaker was already announced by the headmaster of the 2nd primary school. We heard speeches by different headmasters of Vrontados’ […]
On the long weekend from 17th to 19th of February we volunteers had the opportunity to visit Turkey. First we went to Cesme by ferryboat and afterwards we took the bus to Izmir. It is an impressive city, located around a huge bay and surrounded by beautiful mountains. We got […]
It is the 28th of October and everybody in Greece celebrates the Ochi (NO) day. This proud „No” reminds of the year 1940, when the Greek prime minister Metaxas rejected the ultimatum of the Italian dictator Mussolini. On this day, there are many parades, even in the smallest villages. Of […]
During the Christmas time we had the very nice opportunity to take part at the preparations for the decorations of the primary school. In the morning we participated at the lessons of the 2nd grade. The teacher read out some Christmas stories, which they really enjoyed listening to. Afterwards, they […]
In the beginning of every new year the head of the Orthodox Church of the Island – who is Archbishop Markos – visits the schools. On this occasion the teachers and children prepare a special celebration, the Archbishop blesses children, teachers, and the school and cuts “Vasilopita”. This is a […]
In the beginning of march we were invited to help the 2nd class with the preparation for welcoming the spring. We created bracelets, that protect them against the sun of march with them and also assisted them in finishing their traditional spring decoration by tying the paperbirds on a wooden […]