Public and National Holidays


*Carnival*	*March*	*Celebrating Children*

After being there for years , we noticed that Cypriots are very well proud of their traditions and customs, a heritage of years and years back in the days. Part of the traditions and customs of Cypriots are reflected through their public holidays and can be best observed in ceremonies and special events.

Around 20 public holidays take place and are celebrated in Cyprus, in which we mention the most widely celebrated ones:

January 1^st, 2007,New Year’s Day: New Years Day. The end of year 2006 and the start of New Year 2007

January 6^th, 2007, Epiphany: Full of symbols and traditions, Cypriots celebrate as well as Christians all over the world Jesus baptism in the Jordan River by John The Baptist. It is one of the very ancient church celebrations. That is when the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove and sat on Jesus, while from above the voice of God was indicating Him as His beloved Son and His Chosen on Earth.

February 19^th, 2007, Green Monday: Fifty days before Christian Orthodox is called the Green Monday. And its is the mark of the beginning of the Lent. Picnics with vegetarian meals and Fancy clothes are the very common characteristics of this orthodox feast . The start of orthodox fasting.

March 25^th, 2007, Greek National Day: The Greek National Revolution Day against the Turks.

April 6^th, 2007Greek Orthodox Good Friday: On this day, Christians remember the day when Jesus was crucified on the cross.

May 27^th, 2007 (White Sunday) Pentecost (Kataklysmos) . Festival of The Flood:. the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday. Which is 10 days after the ascension.

May 28^th, 2007 (whit) Monday ; the celebration day after whit Sunday –Pentecost:

August 15^th, 2007, Assumption. Assumption Day is a religious festival that celebrates the Virgin Mary’s ascent to heaven

October 1^st, 2007 Cyprus Independence Day. Cyprus became an independence country after a four year war (1955-1959) against the British.

October 28^th, 2007Ochi day (Greek and Cypriot) : the anniversary of General Ioannis Metaxas' flat denial to the Italians' request for free passage to invade Greece.

It is essential at this point to attach that on most celebrations of the stated above, everything in Cyprus closes and is considered to be a public day off. Yet, on some days things are kept open. Let’s have a fast look at when things are closed and when they are open.