The birth a new baby is a special event all over the world and on the island of Crete it is a big occasion that merits celebrations on a grand scale in the towns and villages all over the island where a baptism is taking place. There is often anything up to 3000 guests attending a Christening party.
It does not take much to get Cretans singing and dancing so an occasion such as this is the time to be lively and the atmosphere is one of happiness and joy. Baptisms or Christenings are a serious matter for Cretans but this does not mean that the occasion is sombre or tense, in fact in true Cretan style the whole affair is one of relaxed and leisurely calmness.
Villages churches tend to be small in Crete, so with so many guests arriving to take part in the celebrations it is quite normal to have people milling around outside and wandering in and out of it during the ceremony. It is a great time for everyone to catch up with each other and with so much to talk about it becomes a very social affair indeed.
After the child has been blessed by the holy water, they are dressed in beautiful traditional baptism gowns and guests then approach the parents to offer them congratulations and to offer their christening present, normally this is an envelope in which they have place some money. In return the guests receive a framed picture of the child or sometimes a small amulet.
The whole party then begins with lots of food and wine being served to all the guests. The traditional dinner which includes mezedes, Pilafi with lamb that has been boiled is then followed by delicious roast lamb served with potatoes and plenty of typical Cretan salads. Of course there is a copious amount of village wine called ‘Marouvas’ which is drunk in abundance by all the guests. This festive meal lasts a long time and will go on for hours as everyone enjoys the happy occasion
and will usually end in a lot singing and dancing well into the night.
Weddings too are a wonderful time to celebrate in the most traditional of ways in Crete. Should a visitor be fortunate enough to come across a wedding in a village then the experience will be something that they will cherish. Villagers take advantage of this occasion to dress in their best clothes, they then parade through the streets to live music. The village square is the centre of the festivities and guests along with the whole village dance and sing all night.
The feast that takes place just after the wedding and this is known as ‘glendi’, it is one of the happiest festivities to watch and be a party to. These feasts can last for hours or even days with lots of eating and drinking to the unique traditional music of the Lyra. The Grand Finale of the occasion is truly something that every visitor to Crete should see, as every guest at the ‘glendi’ leaves for home with Wedding Bread.
This is a traditional gift the newlywed couple offers all their guests. These Wedding Bread gifts are beautiful, the bread is braided into all sorts of shapes such as leaves, roses or heavenly stars. They are such wonderful pieces of art work that you cannot help but admire them. The bread has a lovely aroma which traditionally represents the sweetness of marriage and love between the newly married couple
