The “Toliano” Carnival is celebrated this year in March. The success, reminiscent of earlier events attended in the village. Sponsored by the Municipality of Nafplio, the Cultural association of Tolo, the Tourism association, the key elements is fun, banter, satire, food, especially the drinking and the imaginative costumes. With the taboos and fasting of Lent ahead everyone concentrates on having a good time.

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Easter is one of the nicest periods to be in Tolo for a couple of reasons. First of all even if you are not a devout Christian you can’t help but be moved by the ceremonies and the way life begins again on Easter Sunday after winter and 40 days of fasting. If you go to the countryside or to the islands wildflowers are in bloom and the hillsides that are usually parched brown in the summer are green from the winter rains. You can’t even imagine the fields of flowers and the way life seems to be popping and sprouting up from every crack and crevice.

The week of Easter begins on Palm Sunday and there are church services everyday commemorating the last week in the life of Jesus Christ. The evening services are the most well attended of course, except for Wednesday when the Service of the Holy Unction is held in the afternoon. On Thursday morning the service commemorates the Last Supper and the Betrayal of Christ. This is the day that the hard-boiled eggs are dyed red, signifying the blood of Christ, and the Easter bread, called tsoureki, is baked. The evening service is a long one and features twelve gospel readings. It is in this service that a two-dimensional figure of Christ on the cross is brought into the church and set up, while the church bells ring. In some places a vigil is kept in the church all night.

From the point-of-view of a spectator from Friday it starts to get very interesting. The nails holding the figure of Christ are knocked off and the figure is taken down from the cross and wrapped in a white cloth. A large piece of cloth, embroidered with the image of Christ, called the epitaphios which has been decorated with flowers by the girls through the night, is brought into the church where it is sprinkled with rose-water and more flower petals are thrown upon it. The bells of the church begin to toll and all the flags in Greece are lowered to half-mast in while women in the congregation weep in mourning for the dead Jesus. In the evening a funeral service is held and at about 9pm the epitaphios is taken from the church and with the bells tolling mournfully, is carried through the streets in a solemn procession.

At 11pm on Saturday night pretty much the entire village is in church. The lights are turned off at midnight and the priest announces that Christ has arisen from the dead as candles are lit from his and then from each other. The tiny glow at the front of the church grows and soon the whole room is illuminated by the light of everyone’s candles. At the stroke of midnight the priest intones the paschal hymn “Christ has risen from the dead and in so doing has trampled on death and to those in the tombs he has given life“. The church bells ring in celebration, fireworks go off, ships sound their sirens. People greet each other happily with the words Christos Anesti (Christ has arisen) which is replied to with Alithos Anesti (Truly He has arisen). Then everyone heads for home with their lighted candles where they trace the cross three times above the door and to bless trees and farm animals. Most people either stay home or go to a restaurant for the traditional bowl of mageritsa, a thick green soup made from the intestines of the lamb that will be roasted the next day, breaking their 40 day fast which began with the end of Apokreas. Easter day is most people’s favorite day of the year. A lamb is roasted and friends and families get together to eat, drink, talk and dance.

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Historic Nafplion in the Peloponnese is the place to be in the end of June. The annual NAFPLION FESTIVAL kicks off every year in the middle of June and promises lots of music all the way through the end of June. Already in existence for twenty consecutive years and being awarded as the best festival of its kind by the association of Music Critics of Greece, Nafplion Festival gives a good reason to visit the area.

The Festival and the artistic director, the well known pianist YIANNIS VAKARELIS, in its 20th consecutive year, features a panorama of unique musical performances staged at some of the city’s major venues: VOULEFTIKON, the first Hellenic Parliament and AGHIOS YEORGIOS SQUARE, the courtyard of St. George’s church. NAFPLION FESTIVAL spreads its wings every year with more and more ambitious plans.

Nafplio Festival – Program 2012

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Every July and August during the week ends you can participate at the performance of Ancient Tragedies and Comedies in the unique theatre built of limestone, famous for its amazing acoustic, which can seat 12000 spectators. It is considered one of the best Festivals in Greece.

PROGRAM OF ANCIENT EPIDAURUS FESTIVAL 2012

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The most important festival on Spetses is “Armata”, which extends over the second week of September and includes mainly artistic events, such as traditional dances, theatrical performances, various exhibitions and presentations.
This celebration reaches its highest on Saturday, when locals and visitors get together in order to celebrate the anniversary of the Spetses naval battle, occurred on September 8th of 1822. This battle was part of the 1821 revolution, and constituted one of its most important fights.
There are dramatizations of this victory, performed by night. Real ships are used, and a model ship is built especially for the occasion, in order to be burnt in the sea among a massive firework display, which closes in a big manner the festive week.

You can participate to the festival by booking a ticket with the cruise boat from Tolo port.

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You have set the date! And you want your wedding or christenings reception to be as special to your guests as it is to you. Tolo’s unique beauty, its breathtaking sunrises and romantic atmosphere all come together forming the ideal place where lifelong memories are born. Entrust your wedding or christening reception to the specialised personnel of the John & George Group.

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Il Peloponneso è l’estremità più meridionale della penisola Balcanica ed è collegato alla terraferma da uno stretto lembo di terra, l’Istmo di Corinto. E’ un territorio montuoso, che degrada formando fertili pianure alluvionali intorno alle insenature e lungo la costa. La morfologia dell’area e la sua favorevole posizione geografica hanno giocato un ruolo importante nella storia del Peloponneso, attirando molte popolazioni di origini simili o differenti. Oggi è diviso in sette prefetture, che ancora conservano il nome che portavano nell’antichità ed approssimativamente gli stessi confini: Argolide, Corinzia, Acaia, Elide, Messenia, Laconia e Arcadia. Ogni regione del Peloponneso offre particolari interessanti per il visitatore, sia per la grandiosità e la bellezza uniche del paesaggio sia per i numerosi siti archeologici, dove il passato è così vividamente presente. Una terra mitica in cui ogni angolo riporta alla mente un mito Greco.  Il Peloponneso è composto di immagini e musica, del profumo del mare, delle montagne, dell’uva, delle olive e degli agrumi. Le città, i paesi e le sorgenti termali della regione erano centri importanti nell’antichità, e rimangono tali a tutt’oggi. I villaggi sembrano nascere direttamente dalla roccia grigia, la pietraia incolta accanto alla ginestra selvatica. Altri villaggi si trovano sulle rive del mare aperto, ma ovunque la gente è ospitale ed orgogliosa.

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Nella terra bruciata dell’Argolide, dove il papavero splende più luminoso, udrai le mirabili voci della terra greca, Omero, Eschilo, Sofocle. L’Argolide è stata il cuore della Grecia dal 1600 al1100 a..C. sotto la dominazione di Micene. Al suo declino, i Dori hanno portato sotto il loro controllo  la regione fino alla sua conquista da parte dei Romani. Durante Bisanzio l’Argolide ha partecipato al destino del resto del Peloponneso. Si è trovata sotto il dominio dei Franchi ed è stata consegnata ai Turchi nel 1460. Nafplio diventerà la capitale del neo nato Stato greco nel 1828, mentre dal 1834 Atene ne prenderà lo scettro.

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La Greciadà il meglio di sé non solo nelle centinaia di isole che popolano il Mediterraneo e l’Egeo ma anche nella parte continentale del Peloponneso. Sulla costa sudorientale si trova Nafplion, l’antica capitale greca e ora rinomata località turistica. Chiunque ha avuto il piacere di averci trascorso una vacanza lo ricorda come un luogo reso magico dal centro storico, pieno di piccole e irte vie, e da un mare da massimo dei voti.

Nafplion può essere tradotto come Napoli di Romania, secondo l’antica origine dell’attuale toponimo. Altri riconducono il nome a colui che, secondo la leggenda tramandata nei secoli, l’ha scoperta, cioè Nauplio. Dopo un primo periodo di presenza dei Veneziani, venne tolta dagli Ottomani che riuscirono a esercitare un effettivo controllo per poco, prima di passare definitivamente sottola Repubblica di Venezia.

Nafplion ha il classico clima mediterraneo, caratterizzato da estati calde ma sopportabili, e inverni mitizzati dall’effettodel mare. Il rispetto per la tradizione locale si manifesta attraverso degli spettacoli folkloristici tra le viedel paese.

Tra le attrattive storiche degne di essere visitate consigliamo di salire nella Fortezza di Palamidi, dalla quale tra l’altro si domina un panorama mozzafiato. Oppure andare sul colle di Acronauplia o nell’isola di Bourtzi.

Insomma, Nafplion è la meta idelae per chi desidera coniugare l’arte con il divertimento, la cultura con gli svaghi tipicamente estivi. Si raggiunge facilmente dall’entroterra o dtramite i traghetti locali.

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