Kataklysmos (Flood celebration)
The Celebration of the Holy Spirit
The Celebration of the Holy Spirit takes place on the Sunday of the Pentecost and has its roots from the Genesis of the Old Testimony, from Greek Mythology and Cypriot Folklore linked with the Goddess Aphrodite.
In Christianity, we celebrate the appearance of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ students on the Sunday of the Pentecost, 50 days after His resurrection and 10 days after His Ascension. On Monday, we celebrate the Holy Trinity.
The Flood Celebration
The Flood Celebration has its roots in Paganism and the worship of the Goddess Aphrodite and Adonis. The Flood celebration was celebrated by the ancient Cypriots with athletic competitions, songs and dances, poetic and musical competitions.
The first reports of the Flood celebrations in newspapers are dated towards the end of the 19th century where all the artistic and sport events are described. As well as the religious events in churches, there is a rich festive programme which lasts for a three days and has a variety of traditional competitions, Cypriot poems, love songs and the favourite “tsatista”. Traditional dances such as “kartzilamas , syrtos , zeimbeikos” are given great importance.
Apart from the competitions mentioned, sailing , swimming , and volleyball and singing competitions also take place. Various entertainment programmes, folklore concerts, dancing shows, theatre and puppet shows are organised according to the different areas.
Commercial stalls can also be found with traditional arts and crafts as well as food and beverages such as loukoumades, shiamishi , pastelaki , dried fruit and meat like tsamarella , choiromeri and sausages.
Water fights
An important tradition, which takes place on this day, is being splashed with water, having a water fight or swimming in the sea. People wet each other or go to the beach, or go in boats or to the seafronts to watch sailing and rowing competitions. This tradition symbolised the cleansing of the body and soul, as with the baptism of humanity.
