Page 36 - GREC14N_KGS_02

Celebrate Greece | Tradition

15/08
08/09

Feast times two

At the most long-lived fair of Kos
and Nisyros, the famous “dance of
the cup” will keep you up all night.
Στο μακροβιότερο πανηγύρι της
Κω και της Νισύρου, ο ξακουστός
χορός της κούπας θα σας κρατήσει
ξύπνιους μέχρι το πρωί.
by Dimitris Golegos
photos: Ilias Provopoulos

For festival hunters, tradition aficionados
and unsuspecting tourists, the unusual
custom of the dance of the cup represents
an experience enriched with generous
amounts of culture. In Kos the fair
takes place the day of the Virgin Mary’s
birth, September 8, in the village of
Kardamena, whereas in Nisyros it is
celebrated on Assumption day, August
15, at the Monastery of Panaghia Spiliani
in Mandraki. It’s none other than the
most popular fest of the two islands
with the highest attendance in the entire
Dodecanese. Although fairs are by nature
part of the unseen and humble side of the
islands, away from the glamorous aspect
of tourist entertainment, the revival of
customs and the continuation of traditions
constitute a spectacle of its own. The so- WATCH THE VIDEO
called “dance of the cup” or “cup of Virgin
Mary” is a circular dance led by the priest
who holds a straw basket in which he has
thrown a coin. The next person wishing
to hold the basket must throw in another
coin and so forth, until the entire village
gets up to dance. In Nisyros, things are
slightly different: the girl leading the dance

36 GREC14N 2018