Last weekend was a long weekend for Greeks. It was the Carnival weekend, the great end of the Apokria and a lot of people travelled to visit cities and towns that celebrate this day with big Carnival parades.
I travelled in Patra, the centre of the Carnival celebration in Greece and I am going to present in my blogs a few snapshots of this festival which as I have explained at my previous blog comes from the ancient years. It is a tradition that has travelled among the centuries. |
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Patra is the third-largest city of Greece and the capital of the prefecture of Achaea , located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers to the west of Athens. The city is built at the foothills of Mount Panachaikon, overlooking the Gulf of Patra. |
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The town was founded about 1100 B.C., but became of importance as a port only in Roman times. After the fourth Crusade it became the see of a Roman Catholic archbishop. In 1408 it came under the control of Venice and in 1430 of Mistra. In 1460 it fell into the hands of the Turks, by whom it was destroyed in 182, at the beginning of the war of liberation. Thereafter it was rebuilt in neo-classical style on a rectangular street layout |
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Patra stands below its Venetian Castle , on the site of the ancient city where, according to history, the Apostle Andrew taught Christianity and was later crucified and buried. It is the largest communication center of Western Greece and is a thriving commercial and industrial center. |
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Twin cities of Patra are:
Bydgoszcz, Poland
Chisinau, Moldova
Bari, Italy
Ancona, Italy
Gjirokaster, Albania
Canterbury, Australia
Reggio di Calabria, Italy
Limassol, Cyprus
Craiova, Romania
Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ammochostos, Cyprus
Saint-Etienne, France
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One of the biggest tourist attractions of Patras, is the Carnival of Patra, held every year from February to March. It is said to be one of the most famous in the world coming just after Rio de Janeiro and Venice. |
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I was in Patra last weekend and I was part of the people who enjoyed the good weather, the funny costumes, the happy faces, the bright smiles, and the great carnival parade. |
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I have worked here as a reporter and a photographer trying to pass you the great and funny atmosphere of the Patra's Carnival.
So... fasten your seat belts and start enjoying the Carnival!!! |
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The media people were present and decorated the city of Patra offering the the smile at the faces of the people attending the carnival. It is amazing how good and funny were those sculptures which represented famous TV persons. |
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The Patra's Carnival is a continuous meeting of myth with reality, imagination and creation over the years.
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The most important elements (records) concerning the course of the Patra's Carnival are drawn from recent investigations, which sent us back to the 19th century. |
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From these we can conclude that the first Carnival Ball in the capital of Achaia was held in the house of the merchant Moretis in 1829. The very first records of organizing the biggest institution of the country, in its kind, began to appear in 1860 and after the influence the West and the Ionian Islands . Even since then the Patras Carnival has been naturally influenced by the culture of the dwellers of the area and the Greek element remains dominant.
Confetti appeared in Carnival Balls in 1894 and chocolate throwing in 1899. |
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The turning point for the Carnival in taking the form that it has today was in 1966, with the introduction of the "Treasure Hunt Game". The Treasure Hunt Game, ever since 1966 when it first appeared, until today, has turned the anonymous participant into the leading person of the Carnival. |
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The talent of the thousands of young people, who participate with their groups every year, is opened out in all its glory through Patra's Carnival. |
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| The " Treasure Hunt Game " is a series of questions, riddles and activities, which turn out to be a head spinner for the "contestants". The members of the groups take part in pantomime, mixed spectacle, theatre, dance, creations and quizzes. Fantasy, talent, multiformity, laughter, variety and liveliness come together to add something special to the Patras Carnival each year. |
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| And then, Grand Parade comes. This is the greatest moment of the Patras Carnival. The whole town, plus more than 300.000 visitors move to the rhythms the participants (more than 30.000) impose, and floats (hundreds of them) with the Carnival King lead you to the paths of high spirit, merry making and freedom from care. |
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What happens in Patra, on the last Sunday of Carnival, is the pinnacle of the pyramid, which the Patra's Carnival has been built on every year. |
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The parade starts some time after noon with high spirit, dancing and participants, while those taking part in the 'Treasure Hunt Game' write their own history in their own way in the streets of Patra. |
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Right after the completion of the Grand Parade, in a unique night of its own, the King of Carnival will bid farewell to the lovers of the kind, while making a rendezvous for next year. It is the moment when the King of Carnival will be given to the pyre and the sky of Patras will be filled with light and color. Meanwhile, dancing liveliness won't stop, as the thousands of participants will goon living in frenzied rhythms till dawn. |
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The parade is made up of groups of people in disguise, floats, and dancers. The themes of each of the floats in the procession are different and most all make fun in rhyming verse of situations and events depicting the politics and life of Greek society in general as well as other international events. |
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Assistants of the Patras Carnival are groups, associations and services giving a certain product. The Carnival Committee, the Chocolate throwers Club, the Treasure hunt crews and many other participants with genuine carnival spirit, play theatrical performances, street theatre and quizzes. |
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Carnival in Patra has been made a family event and everybody participate at the parade wearing the happy multicolour costumes. The people in Patra start to parade through the streets as babies and continue until they could not do it anymore because of the age. |
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Everybody travel to reach the Carnival of Patra and that is how this represented with this float which encourage us to come to Patra. |
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The new generation of Greeks knows well how to live and enjoy life. The women have been too pretty and the men really handsome. I am proud because I have given my contribution to this new generation with two young women and a boy who is going to be a very handsome man. |
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At nights the night clubs organize big parties and the people dance until early morning. I participated Saturday and Sunday in those parties. I was part of the happy people who without know each other produced the most happy and fun group. |
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I hope to succeed passing the atmosphere of the Carnival of Patra. If some time want to be part of the happy and crazy group of Greeks who celebrate the Carnival don't forget to visit Patra at the period of Carnival because....
Carnival of Patra for ever! |
