Easter on Santorini Island

In the village of Pyrgos Kallistis, Santorini, hundreds of tin candles are lit on the evening of Good Friday, 18 April 2025.


As part of the Easter celebrations, which this year fall on 20 April, events are held in various parts of Greece to pay tribute to the country's traditions and customs.

In Pyrgos Kallistis in Santorini (a medieval settlement in the interior of the island), hundreds of tin lanterns are placed around all the buildings in the village (courtyard walls, paddocks, terraces) and around the Venetian castle that dominates the area during Holy Week.
These lanterns are lit on the evening of Good Friday during the Epitaph Procession, creating a spectacular spectacle that adds to the solemn atmosphere of the day.  The custom seems to have its roots in the way the inhabitants of Santorini welcomed the ships that arrived on the island in the evening.