Tsiknothursday is the Thursday of the second week of the Triodion, a period when people are preparing for the great Fast of Lent. Tsiknothursday gives the opportunity to be consumed in a festive and joyful way that red meat is left before the fast of Lent.

The word "tsiknothursday" comes from the word "tsikna" (the smell of baked meat) and from the word "Thursday". It is also celebrated on Thursday, 11 days before Shrove Monday. The reason that takes place on Thursday is that the Orthodox Church considers the fasts of Wednesday and Friday to be important. So, and the intermediate day was chosen from Wednesday and Friday.

It has been established that the red color dominates, either in meat or in wine. So Tsiknothursday reminds us of Easter and the joy of the Resurrection.

The origin of this strange custom is lost in the depths of time and it is not clear when it began. However, it seems to be associated with the Bacchic festivals of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who considered the feast and the feast rite for the good euphoria of the earth in spring.

Also, Tsiknothursday is, essentially, the beginning of the events for the Carnival, since next week follows the Carnival and Shrove Monday.

The team of INVESTA Real Estate - real estate Larissa gathered for you various customs of Tsiknothursday throughout Greece.

Apart from the established meat roasting, each region of Greece has its own customs and traditions for Tsiknothursday.

In the old town of Corfu, the so-called "Korfiatika Petegoletsia" are made. It takes place in the evening of Tsiknopempti, in Piazza near the location "Koukounara" of Corfu. It is nothing more than the well-known gossip that is combined with a lot of wine, food and song.

In Patra, we have the custom of Giannoula. Giannoula was a real person. She was a poor woman who came from the upper part of the city and she lived in the period before the Second World War. For her survival she sold buns. Some patriots, taking advantage of her naivety and the imaginativeness of her character, told her that they would marry her to Wilson. Giannoula welcomed the supposed Wilson or Juleso as she pronounced him, who was a compatriot of hers, and after an hour the farce was revealed. So, on Tsiknothursday the people of Patras dress a bride, or put an effigy of a bride in the harbor and have fun around him.

In Serres they light big fires in the streets and after roasting the meat, they jump over them. In the end, someone from the group with humor takes over the "matchmaking", while mixing the coals with a piece of wood.

In Komotini, they scorch the chicken that will be eaten on The Sunday of Halloween. Tradition also mentions that on Tsiknothursday the engaged couples must exchange edible gifts. The man must send the "kurkos", that is, a hen, and the baklava woman and a stuffed hen.

In Thebes, begins the "Vlach wedding", which begins with the matchmaking of two young people, continues with the wedding and ends on Shrove Monday with the course of the bride's dowries and the feast of the inmates.

In Ios, in the evening of Tsiknothursday, masqueraders belted with sheep bells cross chora and visit houses and shops.

In Poros, tradition forces young people to steal a spaghetti, which they will put under their pillow to see who they will marry.

All over the Peloponnese they slaughter pork from which they make various other foods, including thick, cigarettes, sausages and salted.

In Skopelos, the residents meet in Pefko, to continue the feast and the feast all together.

In Heraklion, Crete, young and old wander in disguise in the streets and squares of the city, singing and dancing.