Christmas in Cyprus is a mixture of Orthodox and Greek traditions with the addition of more recent, globalized customs.
A forty-day fast leading up to December 25 is kept less frequently now than in the past; pre-Christmas practices still observed involve house cleaning, buying new clothes, and baking seasonal treats such as kourapiedes (iced almond biscuits), melomakarona (honey-glazed orange and cinnamon cookies) and koulouria bread. Householders reward young door-to-door carol singers with a little gift of money or edible treats.
Christmas Day is given over to attending Mass, eating lemon and rice soup, and feasting friends and relatives who come to call. Foods served include souvlaki, turkey and stuffed vine leaves as well as traditional pork dishes. Gift-opening is usually reserved for New Year’s. The Cypriot Gift-Bringer is St Basil whose feast day is January 1 but nowadays he is not portrayed as an Orthodox bishop but as a red-clothed, white-bearded Santa Claus figure.
New Year’s Eve is the time to bake the Vasilopitta, a cake flavoured with orange and mastic. It is left out for St Basil to bless as he visits the home to deliver his gifts. Inside the cake is a coin and he who finds will be lucky throughout the coming year.
On the eve of Epiphany (January 6) the kallikantzaroi, pesky demons who plague folk during the days following Christmas, are driven away by throwing food on the roof and by a ritual priestly cleansing of the home. The following day sees ceremonies connected with water, in honour of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan – a priest throws a cross into the sea and men dive in to retrieve it.