Smashing pots in Corfu this Easter 2012

Smashing pots in Corfu – Experience Easter with a difference!

Here at Vintage Travel we like to inform our readers of all kinds of bizarre and wacky events taking place around Europe, although we have to admit this one takes some beating. If you are looking to experience Easter 2012 with a difference, then look no further than the island of Corfu.

While many celebrate Easter with a series of interesting yet at the same time austere activities and events, Easter on Corfu is a much less ‘serious’ affair, as each Easter Saturday is spent on Corfu literally ‘letting off steam’.

What has become known as ‘Easter Pot Smashing’, the locals on Corfu eagerly await the end of the morning service, which finishes promptly at 11AM, and as soon as the church bells sound, they spend the afternoon smashing pots and any breakable item they can get their hands on, hurling pots, glasses, vases and other earthenware onto the streets below.

Sounds crazy? It is crazy, but is a tradition that has been practised on Corfu for centuries. The art of smashing pots on Easter Saturday originated in Corfu Town by the Venetians who used to launch old items from their bedroom windows on New Year’s Day so that they could receive new replacements in the new year.

The tradition spread to towns and villages across the island and became a popular custom, not only on New Year’s Day, but on other important Greek holidays and, as customs evolve, Corfu’s gusto for communally hurling items from windows, became an ingrained part of the Easter celebrations, with the old items being replaced by pots, other breakables, and even jugs full of water – the noisier the better, we presume!

Another theory behind the roots of this unusual custom is that it derived from the passage in the Bible that cites, “Thou, O Lord, raise me up, that I may crush them as a potter’s vessel.”

Either way, after spending 40 days prior to Easter fasting for Lent, the people of Corfu certainly know how to let off steam! Definitely one way to experience Easter with a difference.