Lefkada woke up at the first dawn of the new year, in a veil of dense fog.
2022 covered her with its leaving, so that the new year would find her in the morning well dressed
and have the honor to cast the sun’s rays on her and enjoy her awakening, just as she will shine in the blue waters of the Ionian.
A new year for the mainland island begins and new goals enter the program.
But the holidays are still on. And our goal preparation machines can wait a few more days before they put us to work.
After the New Year and the fragrant ladopita – the traditional vasilopita of the island – which we still enjoy,
we eagerly await the day of Lights to live in Lefkada – the city mainly – a unique custom that has been around since the years of the Venetian rule.
All year round in the houses of the city one will find in the iconostasis an orange smelling as if it had just been cut from the tree.
This orange does not rot during the year, but it loses its juices.
Or at least that’s what they say….
This orange carries throughout the year the purification of the Lights from the waters of the sea and will be replaced on January 6 by a new one.
After the service in the Metropolis and the other parish churches of the city,
the clergy and the crowd of believers, through the central market, and accompanied by the Philharmonic Society of Lefkada,
arrives at a certain point of the port of Lefkada, where it is already set up platform.
The devotees already hold in their hands, or buy during their march to the waterfront,
bundles of oranges tied with thick string from their stalks, or in netting.
On the port after the ritual is completed and the cross is immersed three times,
swimmers dive as is customary to catch it, while at the same time the faithful along the beach also dip their oranges three times into the now sanctified waters.
Some people used to throw their last year’s oranges into the sea,
while they say that those who lived by the sea,
fishermen and sailors in storms used to throw a consecrated orange into the sea to calm the waters.
A special custom, which is found only in the city of Lefkada, -in the villages some have never even heard of it- the immersion of oranges,
attracts not only the locals but also many visitors as we are still in the midst of festive days and for some holidays.
An island that keeps its tradition alive is Lefkada,
an island of pure gold, the way it shines when the sun bathes it in the morning.
An island worth experiencing.