The Greek Santa is a bit more serious and less fun-looking.
Greeks all over the world celebrate Christmas today, wishing eachother “Kala Xristougenna“.
Tony Kanakaris of NYC was crafty enough to have registered the dot com, so every Christmas KalaXristougenna.com reaps some of the Greek traffic.
Unlike most Europeans, however, Greeks don’t exchange gifts on Christmas, for a simple reason: Santa, as portrayed in the western culture – either as Santa Claus or as Saint Nicholas – does not exist in Greek lore.
So does Santa bypass Greece?
Technically, yes. However, Greeks celebrate Saint Basil of Caesarea on January 1st, to commemorate the Cappadocian bishop who lived in the 4th century AD.
Saint Basil – Αη Βασίλης in Greek – mysteriously arrives as the clock changes over from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s and leaves presents by the Christmas tree of every Greek household.
Confusing, I know – especially since outside of the religious icons, Saint Basil looks just like Santa Claus, thanks to the western influence.
Merry Christmas to everyone and to the Greek domainers: wait until New Year’s Day for your presents! 😀
