Tsirichta
“Tsirichta” is one of the most distinctive and rare funerary customs of the region, combining elements of religious faith, memory and social cohesion. It is revived every year on Easter Monday, in the village of Agapi. The residents prepare “tsirichta”, a type of doughnut, and, together with sweets and red-dyed eggs, they bring them to the cemetery. There, a memorial service for the deceased is held, and the priest reads the names of all who have passed away. The ritual “welcoming” of the dead follows: tables are laid and families dine on the graves, eating tsirichta accompanied by yoghurt known as “mantzira”. Oftentimes, the gathering proceeds with a dance, with the sounds of the Pontic lyra or bagpipe filling the space. The custom recalls the early Christian communal meals called “Agapes”. It remains a deeply human act of collective memory, allowing the residents to recall shared moments with the departed, giving Easter a dimension of hope and faith in the continuity of life.
