Corfu
Easter in Corfu
The biggest event of the year, held with a glory and splendour not seen anywhere else.
Corfu Easter brings thousands of visitors to the island every year, and gains momentum for ten days leading up to the Resurrection Mass itself.
Easter, the greatest festival of the Orthodox Church, is even greater in Corfu: more spectacular, more impressive, with rituals found nowhere else. It is a special event, and a great reason to visit Corfu in spring.
Palm Sunday
The prologue is on Palm Sunday, with a procession of Saint Spyridon celebrating the tradition that the Saint freed the island from a deadly plague in 1629. The procession has been held since 1630, and all the bands of the island take part: not many, only 18!
In the evening, the Philharmonic Society "Mantzaros" gives a concert at the Municipal Theatre.
The bell tower of Saint Spyridon Holy Monday and Tuesday
Events take place on Holy Monday and Tuesday too, such as the music and poetry evening "From Calvary to the Resurrection" on Tuesday, in the peristyle of the Palace of Saints Michael and George.
Holy Wednesday
The Unction is sung in all the churches, and the Municipal Choir gives a concert of church music at the Municipal Theatre.
Holy Thursday
The day the red eggs are painted and the Twelve Gospels are read in every church. In the Roman Catholic cathedral, the "Duomo" of Town Hall Square, something unique takes place: twelve candles are lit, and one is put out at the end of each reading.
Despite the difference in calendar, the Catholic Church of Corfu takes part in all the Orthodox events and celebrates together with them.
The red eggs of Holy Thursday Good Friday
The epitaph processions of Good Friday follow a ritual that makes the event even more impressive. They come out of every church and all intersect in the centre of town.
The first comes out of the church of Panagia Spileotissa at the New Fortress, with the epitaph of the Pantokrator in the Kampiello. The others follow, ending with the most magnificent of all, that of the Mitropolis, after 10 pm: a philharmonic orchestra, Venetian lanterns, the choir and thousands of believers holding lit candles high, the "tortses". The lights of the Liston are shrouded in purple as a sign of mourning.
The three main bands of the town each play their own piece: the red "Old" Band the Adagio of Albinoni, the blue "Mantzaros" the Marcia Funebre of Verdi, and the "Kapodistrias" the Elegia Funebre, Mariani's Sventura and Chopin's funeral march.
The epitaph on the Liston Holy Saturday
The rites of Holy Saturday are perhaps the best moments of Easter in Corfu. They begin at 6 in the morning in the church of Our Lady of the Foreigners, with the artificial "earthquake" of the Resurrection.
Later comes the procession of the epitaph of Saint Spyridon, a custom from the Venetian era, together with the relics of the Saint, this time commemorating the deliverance of the island from famine.
At 11 in the morning, the mood changes from mourning to the joy of the "First Resurrection": from the balconies, residents throw large clay pots into the streets, many filled with water, while all the church bells ring. Some say the custom comes from the Venetians, who threw their old things away at New Year.
And finally the hour everyone waits for: the Resurrection Mass at midnight, on the bandstand of the Upper Esplanade, with hundreds of fireworks.
The balconies of the pot throwing, Holy Saturday Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday belongs to the family table, with avgolemono soup, lamb on the spit and red eggs. In every church there is a procession of the Resurrection, with the bands in their place of honour.
Cracking the red eggs