The festivals
The festivals together with the weddings were one of the most important manifestations of the life of the traditional society of Syracuse and one of the few ways of entertainment. The festivals together with the weddings were one of the most important manifestations of the life of the traditional society of Syracuse and one of the few ways of entertainment.
In the summer of 2016, the festival of Syracuse was included in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, which will help ensure that the festival is not preserved as a museum species, but remains alive in space and time.
The festival is a ritual, a set of symbolic actions that take place with an established formality, at the same time and in the same place, under the plane tree, which is the spatio-temporal meeting point of the dispersed Syracuses. That is why during the recording, the term panigyria was not used, but panigiri, because the same standard, the same ritual process, the same practice is followed in all of them.
Nowadays, four traditional festivals take place:
A one-day celebration of the Prophet Elias (Ai-Lios) on July 20 in the church yard by the Ecclesiastical Committee, with plenty of traditional food, dancing and of course traditional Municipal music.
A dinner of the Transfiguration of the Savior on August 6 in the central square of the village in the Horostasi.
The festival of the Assumption of the Theotokos (Panagia) on August 15, which takes place in Chorostasi for two days and is the most important for Syracuse, due to the response of Syracuses everywhere. The start of the festival every year is preceded by a variety of music and dance activities from the many cultural clubs due to the dispersion of Syracuse and is followed by a traditional festival with the participation of young and old until the early hours of the morning under the starry sky and the supernova plane trees.
Finally, the festival of Agios Nikolaustis on December 6, where the patron saint of the village is celebrated. A festival is held in the shops of the village.
The dances
The topic of popular culture and its values is an important field of action. It is a real fortune that Syracuse, Epirus and Greece in general has such an invaluable cultural tradition and heritage.
Elements of our popular culture, such as dance and song, have always been the creation through which customs, traditions, legends, stories, triumphs and memories of our people could be passed on to later generations. Traditional dance as a means of expression is Syracuse is still an important field of application, while the inhabitants continue the long-term effort to preserve the traditions.
The dance arrangement is a double or triple dance in an open circle, depending on the rows of women who always dance inside the men (an indication of superiority and protection of men over women) while the men always have one, outside. Everyone dances two dances, when it is their turn, which is not violated and is observed reverently.
The dances are generally slow, graceful and simple, while their style is heavy, serious and imposing. The main dances that are found are the dances: “Sta Tria“, slow dances that are danced all over the sole with small revivals that are more intense in men and are ordered as pates. The Sirtoi “sta Dyo“, are danced as in all Epirus, with six steps forward (without crossing).
The Tsamiko, in Sirrako, is one of the most important dances, especially in terms of demonstrating the dancing ability of the residents, especially the men.
The Syngathistos is a love dance that is danced in the space, at the beginning of the feast, by men and women freely and facing each other. The Yann’Kostas, which is the main Syracuse dance and consists of special movements.