Easter in Istanbul

Even in Istanbul it was hard not to notice it was Easter. The city was packed with Greek tourists and in my neighborhood, Şişli, a lot of shops sold matzot, challot, colored egss, easter chicks and bunnies. Even the local municipality hung out banners wishing all the Christian citizens a happy Easter! I also had my share of Easter experience. Normally we don’t do more than a nice Easter brunch with matzot and chocolate egss, but this year I got to experience the religious part of Easter. My Greek friend Marina invited us for dinner at her place and at around 11 pm she took us to see the ceremony at one of the Greek Orthodox Churches, Avia Triada, on Istiklal. It was extremely crowed but somehow we managed to get inside the church and watch the special moment which takes place at exactly 12 o’clock midnight; this is the moment when all the lights go off and the holy light is lit and is passed on by candles which everyone brought with them. Than the patriarch walked outside and did another ceremony, of which I unfortunately forgot the meaning of. But all together it was a very interesting and fun experience! Just to look at the interior of the church was worth coming there. If you’re in Istanbul around Easter really make sure you go to one of the ceremonies.