Celebrations – Events
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Celebrations - Events
Ai Georgis Methistis
Churches dedicated to Ai Georgis, the so-called Methistis (since he helps people to get drunk), exist in the vineyards of several inland regions of Crete, near “nymphs’ sites”.
Agios Georgios of November, a rural and, especially, a wine-growing saint, was named Methistis to express the ancient connection of wine with the holy and the divine. Celebrations in his honor begin on the afternoon of November 2nd and culminate with a service on the morning of November 3rd. The date of the celebration coincides with the opening of the barrels which contain the new wines of the year and it is a day of joy, a day of feast and wine drinking. On the day of the fete, Crete’s wine producers visit the churches of their region carrying jugs or bottles which contain their new wine. The houses are open for wine tasting, accompanied by delicious tidbits which are offered to the guests. This feast has its roots in the antiquity, and wine tasting corresponds to the Pithigia of the ancient Greeks (during that day, wine storage jars were opened and the wine of the year was tasted); the current difference is that the new wines are tasted earlier, during February – March, before the completion of the second fermentation.
Aristotle wrote that people gather whenever possible “offering sacrifices and organizing gatherings on these opportunities, honoring the gods on one hand and offering themselves enjoyable occasions for pleasure on the other” (Nicomachean Ethics, 1160 a). Maximus of Tyre (a Platonist philosopher, around 180 A.D.) is more specific: “It appears that farmers are those who established the feasts and ceremonies of the gods. They were the first who established dances for Dionysus at the time when grapes are trodden on the grape treading tank (lenos), and orgies for Demeter on the threshing floor.” And the great religiologist Nilsson wrote: “What interests the primitive man is not nature itself, but nature when it intervenes in human life and becomes its necessary and indisputable basis” (Nilsson 1979, 21).
Apokrigiomata
The apokrigiomata of Ash Monday are events which have their roots in ancient ceremonies and mysteries related to fertility and fruitage. The word comes from the verb apokrigiono, which means I stop eating meat and it marks the beginning of Lent and fasting.
During the last fifty years, these feasts have been revived, especially in Gergeri of Heraklion. Basically it is a pagan custom which, over the years, became included in the Christian customs, but retained its special characteristics. It is an outdoor feast, in which disguised zoomorphic persons carrying bells and dressed in animal hides, raise the roof and stir up the entire region with their frenzied dance.
The animal hide is the main component of the Apokrigiomata. Many hides are maintained in order to be used once a year with their accessories (bells etc). It is heavy for the disguised person, but all of them participate as soon as they are called.
They use masks, basically a Dionysian symbol, which was always a sacred object; it could be worn on a human face to represent the appearance of a god or spirit. In other words, the person who wears it becomes someone else, perhaps even god Dionysus himself. Ash Monday is a Christian holiday, but it retains elements of rituals from earlier nature worshipping ceremonies.
Ayxenteia
The valley which begins from Sinapi – east of Paliani – passes from Agios Thomas and reaches Agia Varvara is one of the most beautiful valleys of Crete. In this important cultural wine landscape, winemaking traces are obvious and they are closely associated with the history of the region. At Agios Antonios’ church, on the road from Agios Thomas to Agia Varvara, the edge of a carved winepress (lenos) indicates that the opening of the road used the space of the winepress. A little farther, in a vineyard, a rock has been overturned and the winepress which apparently existed on its upper surface, together with the trough (hypolinio) leans towards the ground as if it worships mother earth. It’s an impressive sight! The change of the relief due to the influence of the water and air is evident. Nearby there is a small river with bubbling water and a watermill which in the past “saw” crops turn into flour and feed many generations of people. In fact it must have “heard” many stories too from people who waited the milling to finish.
A little farther an impressive picture is revealed. After the ancient road, the setting reminds of a nymphs’ hideout. Huge oaks cover the natural park which people respected and did not cultivate. A winepress is carved into a rock. Here probably was a site of feasts. The first cleaning of the winepress was carried out by the students and teachers of the 9th High School of Heraklion in 2007, and it was the beginning of the area’s protection. Scenes from the movie “Looking for Cretan wine” were shot here.
It is very positive that Pirouniana Cultural Association “Axenti” keeps the area clean and organizes feasts in this beautiful site, every summer, since 2011. Specifically, it organizes a grape festival in July, August or September with the traditional grape treading in a carved winepress, ritual threshing, etc., whereas, at the same time, an exhibition of local agricultural products takes place. Also open presentations by experts occur during the days of the events. Local development goes through the environmental sensitization of the inhabitants, as well as through the creation of conditions required for sustainable local growth.
Lychnostatis Museum: Grape Festival
Every year, a Grape Festival is organized within the context of an experiential visit to the Museum of Cretan Traditional Life “Lychnostatis” in Limenas, Chersonissos.
There are two winepresses in the Museum: one stone-built and one made of clay, a copy of an ancient winepress (lenos) which was discovered in Vathypetro, Archanes. Museum visitors take part in an original and participatory Grape Festival: after the harvesting of the grapes from the vines, they happily contribute to their pressing.
At the same time, they taste “moustalevria” (a healthy, sugar-free traditional dessert) as soon as it is produced, as well as fresh fruits from the Museum’s garden.
Also they watch the distillation process of tsikoudia (a grape-based spirit) which is produced from pomace (the remnants of the grapes) in the cauldron of the preparation of raki (rakokazano). As they drink this traditional alcoholic drink, they taste accompanying tidbits: potatoes baked in the oven and rusk with cheese and tomato.
Cretan music and dancing by the sea put the finishing touches to this feast.
Trygopatimata
Grape treading in Kenourgio Chorio village
Every year during the last decade, the Cultural Association of Kenourgio Chorio organizes the “Trygopatimata”, a two-day event with the following purposes:
– To keep alive in the village the tasks, the morals and the customs of the harvest and to make them known to the younger generation.
– To highlight the value of the wine (moderately consumed) to people’s health, within the context of the Cretan diet.
– To enrich the cultural activities of the region.
– To highlight the authentic character of Kenourgio Chorio as an attractive location for visitors, since it is a recognized traditional settlement that comprises the Venetian tower of the poet Markos Antonios Foskolos, the Wine Museum of the Association and the Cretan-Venetian Winepresses.
The program of the two-day events is the following:
In the morning of the first day, the grapes are harvested in the vineyards around the village and the participants savor a traditional midmorning snack in a basket at the vineyard. Later on, they transport the grapes to the Association’s Wine Museum and leave them in a cool spot till late afternoon. Then the participants return to the Museum where they have the opportunity to attend two short but concise speeches on the following topics:
– The value of the Cretan agro-nutrition and wine.
– The history of the land and its vineyard.
Grape treading follows in the traditional grape treading tank which is located in the Museum’s courtyard and when the must is stored in the barrels which are located in the Museum’s cellar, the participants are offered a traditional treat accompanied by wine. The pomace is separately stored and it is used in the autumn to produce the Association’s raki, in a village cauldron.
On the evening of the second day, in the courtyard of the village’s old primary school, a traditional feast takes place with live Cretan music and a traditional Cretan menu accompanied by a lot of wine.