Easter at Arnea

Easter at Arnea is being celebrated with a great pomp: on Good Friday the two epitaphs are processed in the paved paths and the cobblestone streets of the village, under the sounds of the Philarmonic, until the light of the Resurrection comes at the City Hall Square. The atmosphere is flooded by the scents of the candles, the incense and the spring flowers.

On Easter Sunday everything celebrates! At the central square the Easter Stand is set and the residents offer the visitors red eggs and pastries, wishing “Hronia Polla”!

On the morning of Easter Monday, the tradition revives under the custom of “Kantari”. People hang a large scale on the perennial tree of the central square and weigh those who weigh more kilos. It is about a very popular custom, which annually attracts many people, since for the old times, the scale was a proof for those that didn’t fast during the Lent.

On Easter Tuesday, at the chapel of Prophet Elias revives the old custom of “Koutsmanous”. The participants are dressed in traditional costumes and the horse riders with old guns, set off from the central cobbled square and head to the chapel. When they arrive, the church’s icons are being processed and then the dance “Koutsmanos” begins. Reviving this custom is being completed with shooting, having as targers red eggs. Later in the noon, participants and visitors head to the church of St. Paraskevi and the park, where they savour delicious Eastern tastes.

One other custom of Easter Tuesday is “Sousaritsa”, where the participants hold a red egg competing each other, rolling over the grass, but without breaking it.