New Year in Greece

If the Nativity of Christ is associated for all Christians with the birth of Christ, then the New Year among the Greeks, in turn, is associated with their beloved saint – Saint Basil (Ayos Vasilios), the Greek Santa Claus, whom all children love for his gifts brought to them on New Year’s night. It is to him that they write their wishes in letters or in notes that they leave under the Christmas tree at home.

The fact is that January 1 in Greece is a festive date not only because it is the first day of the New Year, but also because it is also the Day of Remembrance of St. Basil, whom the Greeks revered for intelligence, kindness and generosity towards to the poor.It is no coincidence that the most important place on the New Year’s table is occupied by “basilopita” – St. Basil’s cake, in which a coin (“fluri”) is baked for good luck, albeit not a gold one: whoever gets a piece with a coin will have a successful and successful year.



Saint Basil once invented this tradition, distributing all his property to the poor people on New Year’s Eve, baking a golden thing in baked New Year’s pies – a gift for the happiness of every family. Therefore, the Greek people, as a token of gratitude, cut the first piece of the pie in the name of the Saint, the second piece is intended for the house, the next one for the eldest member of the family, and so on in order, until the youngest.

On New Year’s Eve, children sing carols with the name of St. Basil on their lips: the song “Beginning of the month and beginning of the year” tells how St. Basil came from Caesarea to Greece.
As Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil built shelters for orphans and beggars, homes for the elderly, hospitals, boarding houses, and also created points of free distribution of food and clothing. During his 49 years of life, Saint Basil managed to do a lot for the good of his people, for which he was called the Great during his lifetime.




On January 1, 379, Saint Basil died, leaving a memory of himself as a man who brought people not only daily food, but also spiritual food: in the saint’s hands, in addition to a sweet piece of sugar, was an icon, paper and a pencil. The people loved their patron immensely, therefore, immediately after his death, January 1 began to be celebrated as the day of St. Basil!