All about Zakynthos

The Holy Week is a very special occasion in Zakynthos. There is also a special ritual in the religious ceremonies as well as its own ancient customs. The Holy Week actually begins on Saturday of Lazarus, when at 11 o'clock in the morning the church bells ring solemnly and the "vagi" (branches with leaves) is hung in all the bell towers of the town and villages. In Zakynthos, the "vagi" is not the well-known laurel tree that is shared with the rest of Greece on this day, but the fresh yellowish leaves of the palm tree, which are used to weave crosses, "vagiophores", suns, horses, etc. and decorate the churched for the feast. On Palm Sunday, after the Liturgy, the "nontsoloi" (vergers of the church) distribute the "vagi" to all homes as a blessing from the priest and the believers place it on the icons. After the end of the mass, the churches are decorated in mourning. In the evening, the bridegroom service is celebrated. On Holy Tuesday evening, the melodious choirs of the churches sing the troparion of the Cassiani (Praise of the Apostiches). On Maundy Thursday morning the Vespers and the Divine Liturgy are celebrated in all churches. After that, everything is in mourning state and the bells do not ring again until the morning of Holy Saturday. Impressively sung in the Zakynthian church member are the hymns "I have divided my garments into two..." and "Deliver us from the curse of the law...". In Zakynthos, the Crucified comes out after the eleventh Gospel. The chanter in front of the Crucified sings, according to the Zakynthian member, the hymn "Today he hangs on wood...", while immediately afterwards the choir or the chantors (only in Zakynthos) sing the famous chant "For like wild unbridled horses they nations rioted...". The twelfth Gospel "At the dawn...", is the climax of the Holy Thursday service. On Good Friday everything in Zakynthos participates in the Divine Drama. In the morning, there is the Service of the Great Hours followed by the Deposition, in which the well-known in the rest of Greece embroidered Epitaph is not used, but a two-faced wood-carved hagiography of the dead Christ, called "Lamb". At 2.00 noon is the climax of the Zante Megalovdomados with the procession to the city of the Crucifix and the icon "Mater Dolorosa".