The Civilization of Mykonos

On New Year's day it is custom for the head of the family has to enter the home with his right foot, making his cross 3 times, this is called "podariko" and it is held at the homes so as to bring them luck for the whole year. A New Years pie is sliced and divided amongst the family. The person that finds the coin in the pie is considered the lucky one (for that year).

The Theofania is a celebration of Christianity. On the eve before the day of Theofania the priests visit the houses and offer their blessings, followed by mass that is held at the harbor. Then a cross is thrown in to the sea and young men dive in to retrieve it. One of the biggest celebrations takes part on Apokries (Greek Carnival). The people get dressed in costumes and roam through the streets, spreading laughter with their funny outfits. The celebration goes on during Clean Monday where they celebrate the Koulouma.

Right before Easter the Mykonians begin preparing their homes: they white wash and paint them, they bake Lazarakia (small people-like bread). The Easter Week is a moving time and everybody follows. On Easter Friday the epitaph is carried around throughout the whole island. On Easter Saturday, "Christ has risen" and can be heard throughout the whole island while the volume reaches its peak on Easter Day.

In the morning everybody is at their home celebrating while in the afternoon they go to the main square of the island and burn Judas. Open-air festivals are occurring through the whole island when celebrating religious festivities. Many of the foreign tourists of the 17th and 18th centuries did not resist the temptation of describing the female costumes. Everybody agreed that the costumes were very beautiful but very profound.

The dress was composed of the following: the 8 clip headscarf which is called Machramas, the loose dress with 6 clips, a kind of shirt which is called camisole with 2 clips, the plastron for the stomach with 2 clips, the plastron in the back with 3 clips, the apron (front) with 5 clips, the waistcoat with 5 clips, the socks with 3 clips, and the slippers with 3 slips.

In Mykonos they make very tasteful homemade delicatessen. They are produced from local meat with many spices and wild herbs that grow on the island. They also produce very good sausages
(siglina, louses, plevries etc.).

Kopanisti is the local soft cheese with the unique taste that can only be found in Mykonos. The Myconian women also make very good onion pie with tirovolia. Τhe diples and the marzipans are the traditional sweets of Mykonos.