Custom or festival
Holy Cross Day
The start of the farming year, the end of long voyages for sailors, and the first cracked olives.
- September 14
Holy Cross Day, on 14 September, means a lot on the island: for farmers it is the start of the new year, with the sowing ahead.
Two sayings
Farmers used to say “at the Cross, cross yourself and sow”. Sailors, on the other hand, stopped their long voyages, as the saying advised: “at the Cross, cross yourself and tie up”.
The first olives
On the same day the first olives are picked and cracked: they are broken with a big round pebble, a “chourchoula”, left in water for a few days to lose their bitterness, then drained and salted.
