Tradition | discover-karpathos

Tradition

On the island of Karpathos, especially in the villages, the customs and the traditions are maintained unaltered. In Olimbos, in particular, which is considered to be a "live museum", the locals maintain, even in their daily routine, customs 100-years-old, wearing the traditional costumes and speaking with Doric idioms. The island is famous for the custom of "the ceremony of the seven days", since the locals consider 7 to be the most powerful number. Thus, the feasts last seven days and the wedding ritual here is very significant, as the wedding preparation is very traditional and the feast lasts 15 days after the wedding ceremony. On June 26, the locals celebrate the day of Agios Ioannis Klidon by putting apples and pears in a jar with the name of their sweetheart on top and, after blessing them with the "silent washer", the locals pick a fruit to see what their destiny will be. On all of these occasions, the people of Karpathos wear their traditional costumes. The women wear white shirts decorated with embroidery, a dark silk scarf on the head tied with a golden ribbon with pounds, while men wear vests, blue "vraka" with a broad belt, "mizoro" and "stivania

Folk Festivals

Avlona 29/9 30/9

Vrisiani 7/8- 8/8

Vroykoynta 28/8

Avlona 29/9 30/9

1/18

25 / 03 Evangelistria festival in Pigadia
23 / 04 Agios Georgios festival in Lefkos
17 / 07 Agia Marina festival in Menetes
27 / 07 Agios Panteleimon festival in Othos
06 / 08 Jesus Christ festival in Othos
15 / 08 15th of August in Menetes, Piles, Aperi and Olympos.
28 / 08 Agios Ioannis festival in Laki and Olympos
07 / 09 Larniotissa festival in Pigadia
08 / 09 Panagia Vrisiani festival in Mesochori, at Plagia Panagia in Volada.
14 / 09 Elevation of the Holy Cross (Ypsosis Timiou Stavrou) festival in Piles
17 / 09 Agia Sofia festival in Arkasa

Costumes

1/28

KARPATHOS: OLYMBOS

These costumes are still worn by the villagers and they represent significant stages of their life.

The sakofoustano (the first costume) is the unmarried woman's version. The girls from an early age dress in this for everyday or festive occasions. Originally, the preferred material was oriental silk, brocade with a busy floral design on it. Nowadays, they still use similar prints, and the same colors but they choose fabric with more freedom. The costume consists of a pleated skirt and vast ornamentation (about 25 centimeters wide) around the hem comprised of bright colored ribbons, rick-racks, and as we can see on the newer version, sequins. The blouse-like top is also heavily pleated on the front and the lower part of the back. The adornment on the bosom is very similar to that of the hem. The belt is sewn onto the blouse and also decorated. In time, the hand-crocheted lace has been replaced with manufactured lace and has come to border the hem. The apron is worn over the skirt, but underneath the blouse. The large white scarf, the mantili, which comprises the headpiece has a crocheted edge with sequins and small beads. It is tied in such a way that the floral design on it shows at all times.

The newly wed woman's costume is the same as the unmarried except that she also wears a black overcoat, the kavadi, and they trade in their white mantili for a black one. They are supposed to wear this for the first 40 days after the wedding, after which they take off their fancy, shinny sakofoustano and replace it with a simple, cotton chemise. In the opening of the chemise and around the neck and sleeves, they use a small cross-stitch rose embroidery.

Costums