Argos has three feasts every local knows: its patron Agios Petros in May, the Friday after Easter at Kefalari, and Portokalousa in late November, when the plain is already heavy with oranges.
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May - September
Panigiria run from May to September, and the season peaks at Dekapentavgoustos - the Dormition, on 15 August - when most villages hold their feast. Each programme is set close to its own saint's day, so the list fills late and empties out of season.
Agios Petros, bishop of Argos, is the city's patron saint, and his feast falls on May 3. At the cathedral of Agios Petros hierarchical vespers are held and his relics and icon are carried in procession through the central streets with the town band and military detachments, before the festal liturgy. When the date collides with Easter the celebration is moved, so it is worth checking that year's programme.
In the same season, right after Easter, comes the area's favourite outing. At Kefalari, five kilometres south of the city, the church of Zoodochos Pigi (the Life-Giving Spring) sits at the mouth of a cave beneath Mount Chaon, directly above the springs of the Erasinos river. On the Friday of Bright Week, the first Friday after Orthodox Easter, a large panigiri is held there, with pilgrims from all over Greece. Water welling up from under the rock, small stone bridges and plane trees make the setting - and the cave, about 110 metres deep, has yielded finds from prehistoric times.
Autumn ends with Panagia Katakekrymeni, known as Portokalousa, on the eastern slope of Larissa hill, half carved into the rock beneath the castle. It celebrates the Presentation of the Virgin on November 21 and owes its nickname to an old custom: people in Argos threw oranges at newlywed couples who came up to the monastery on the feast day, and the church is still decorated with oranges, the fruit of the Argolid plain. In summer the villages of the plain and the surrounding hills keep their saints' days in the familiar way: tables in the square, a live band and dancing until late.
Agios Petros, bishop of Argos, is celebrated on May 3, with vespers and a procession of his relics and icon from the cathedral of Agios Petros through the central streets. When it coincides with Easter the celebration is moved. See the current calendar on Mood.
On the Friday of Bright Week, the first Friday after Orthodox Easter, the feast of Zoodochos Pigi. The church stands at the mouth of a cave above the springs of the Erasinos, five kilometres south of Argos.
From an old custom: on its feast day, November 21, people threw oranges at newlywed couples who climbed up to the monastery. The church, on the slope of Larissa hill, is still decorated with oranges. Panigiria across the Argolid are listed on Mood.
