Saitopolemos

Saitopolemos is a customary celebration that take place in the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

city of

Messini Messini ( el, Μεσσήνη, before 1867: Νησί ''Nisi'') is a municipal unit (''dimotiki enotita'') and the seat town (''edra'') of the municipality (''dimos'') of Messini within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in th ...

during

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

. According to legend, its roots can be traced back to the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

in the 1820s, and especially to a battle the Greeks fought against the army of the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian Sultan Ibrahim Pasha. However, this explanation is disputed. The 19th century Greek Romantic tradition used to place the nativity of the majority of Greek customs in the period of Turkish occupation (1453-1821). The biggest argument against the traditional view is the fact that the celebration takes place during Easter week, whereas most historians agree that the events the traditional songs refer to did not occur during that time of year. Easter celebration is often connected with fires so the celebration's roots can be traced back to the first Christian societies. The celebration takes place in Kalamata Metropolitan Stadium where the participants are divided into 10 to 15 teams. Each team consists of 15 to 30 people, mainly young boys. The preparation for the event begins weeks before Easter festivities with young people preparing their ''saites'' for the event. A ''saita'' is a circular object filled with flammable material. When the celebration begins the players light up their ''saites'' and the stadium glows with flame. The custom is controversial because it is very dangerous. The Greek media have been highly critical of it, and there have been calls for its termination. But the locals insist that the custom is a tradition they inherited from their ancestors. Kalamata's mayor and upper priest have been supportive of the event. {{Easter Greek culture Easter traditions in Greece Spring traditions Messenia