We guarantee: Your best easter will be in Nisyros island!

The best time to go to Nisyros, except the 15th of August, is Easter.

Easter in Nisyros means devotion, reviving customs, tradition. Unlike other areas of Greece, Nisyros celebrates two weeks of Easter, the Great week and the week after which is brilliantly rich in customs and traditions.

It all starts on Saturday of Lazarus when the the primary school children hold the palms, adorned with flowers and the so called "kalantira" a wooden construction which represents the tomb of Lazarus. It is adorned with palm leaves and flowers. Singing the Lazarus carols throughout the village children gather money to dine with the teacher of the village.

Next day is Palm Sunday, when we all go to church to get the palm -shaped cross in order to decorate our homes. We through away or burn the old ones and replace them by the new. During the night we celebrate the "Nimphios".

The Great Wednesday, we all gather at the church to bring ease in our souls.

Great Thrursday is probably one of the suddests days of the year for the people of Nisyros. That day we keep in mind the "Today he is crussified" and everyone revives deep inside the moment of Crussifixion and asks for forgiveness. Later in the night women will decorate the "Epitaph" in the most brilliant way to accomodate the body of Jesus. Until the early morning hours women will mourn for Jesus crussifixion under the cross.

On Friday morning is the disestablishment and in the evening the touring of the epitaph, when people holding the epitaph scroll around the village and stop at every church they find to make a supplication. At Saint Savas, the village's beach begins the lightening of flares which indicates the resurrection of the Lord.

On the Great Saturday morning, we all go to church to receive communion. At 11 we get to the village's square, the so-called "old" , where we will divide into 2 teams and play against the other team using flares. At 11:45 a.m. we all run towards the church, waiting for the bell to reach 12pm, which indicates the first resurrection. To celebrate we through flares and improvised traditional dynamite. In the evening everyone will dress in their best clothes to go to church, getting ready for the big event.

The next day ( Easter Sunday ) morning, the Hagiography of resurrection will be taken all around the village and the Vesper of love will take place. At 12am will be the last resurrection and everyone will head back home to his family to eat the traditional kappama, ie goat stuffed in the oven.

During Easter week starts the custom of Nisyros. Different hagiographies from each village will pass by every house on the island to take its blessing. On Easter Monday comes at Mandraki the image of the Holy Apostles and the Virgin of Our Lady from Palous village.

On Easter Tuesday we all visit the monastery of the Annunciation which is celebrating with a festival and traditional food. That day we play a traditional game called " Makchos " .

The Easter Friday is the best day of Easter, because we get to travel around our own hagiograph , Virgin of Spiliani. At 7am starts a convoy of motorbikes and cars which takes the hagiography to Emporio village where the Divine Liturgy takes place and in the end the priest will take the hagioagraphy around to get the blessing. Next stop will be Nikea village where we visit all houses and sit to eat something. After that we take the road back to our village making a lot of noise which indicates our return. When we reach our village, embarks a crazy festival. All the bells of the village knock, everyone is treating us with deserts or food since the proccesion of the Hagiography is a big issue.

Around 8pm, we all gather at the port of Saint Savvas to start the tradition of dynamite exchange. 

Finally Thomas Sunday, we take the Hagiography of Virgin Mary Spiliani at the last village on the island, the so-called Pali village, where every year after the end of the procession, Mandraki and Pali village will compete with flares, creating an awesome spectacle.

This is Easter time in Nisyros, you have to also experience it, not only read about it. Therefore, we expect you there this Easter.