Though lavishly celebrated throughout the country, Easter in Chania is extra magical, with a host of dramatic, time-honoured traditions at play.
Easter is the grandest celebration in the Greek Orthodox Calendar but it in fact predates the Christian religion. Rooted in ancient spring rituals that are associated with the rebirth of nature at the end of the winter, Easter merges the spiritual, the metaphysical and the ceremonial with elation and joy. Though piously observed throughout Greece, it is at its most authentic in Crete: A solemn as much as buoyant occasion, Easter in Chania is accompanied by a host of age-old rituals that serve to reinforce community bonds.
