The vasilopita is a special cake, bread or pie baked for the New Year in Greece and many other areas in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, which contains a hidden coin or trinket which brings good luck to the recipient. It is associated with Saint Basil’s day, January 1, in most of Greece, but in some regions the traditions surrounding a cake with a hidden coin are attached to Epiphany or to Christmas. Similar traditions exist in Western Europe, where it is known as the King Cake or galette des rois. It is made of a variety of doughs, depending on regional and family tradition, including tsoureki. In some families, instead of dough, it is made from a custard base called galatopita. In the Thessaly region a pork-filled filo pie is made with a hidden coin. The pie is also known as chronopita meaning “New Year’s pie”.
The origin of the tradition lies in a miracle attributed to Basil of Caesarea or St Basil the Great, an early Church Father who defended the orthodox faith against the Arian heresy. As bishop of Caesarea, he wrote several works on monasticism, theology and canon law, and was declared a saint soon after his death. He is also known as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs, who are venerated as saints in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, and other Christian churches, and whose feast falls on January 30th.
It is related that Caesarea being under siege (presumably from the forces of the Roman Emperor Valens, who was an Arian Christian), Basil called upon the citizens to raise a ransom payment to end the attack. Each citizen gave all they could in gold and jewellery, and the besiegers were so impressed by their act of collective giving that they called the siege off without even collecting the payment. Faced with the task of returning the donated valuables, but not knowing who owned what, Basil baked them all into loaves of bread and distributed the loaves to the city. According to the legend, each citizen miraculously received exactly what they had given, and peace was restored throughout the city.
On New Year’s Day families cut the vasilopita to bless the house and bring good luck for the new year. This is usually done at midnight on New Year’s Eve, but may also be done at lunch or dinner on New Year’s Day. A coin, known in Greece as the flouri, is hidden in the bread by mixing it into the dough before baking. The head of the household first scores a sign of the cross on the cake, and then cuts a series of slices for a hierarchy of figures. One slice is set aside for the house, for Christ, the Virgin Mary and then Saint Basil, then every family member and guest receives a slice, from the oldest down to the youngest.
While the tradition is primarily a family one, in Greece it is also the occasion for a ceremonial cake-cutting by public and private institutions and companies, in anything from an impromptu gathering to a formal reception. In larger gatherings the honours are done by the local priest, and the ceremony can be carried out at any time in January and well into the month of February. While the flouri was originally a silver coin, it is now more commonly a token which may be merely viewed as a bringer of good luck, or may be traded for privileges in a corporate context.
Cutting the vasilopita in Platanias
The cutting of the vasilopita for the Municipality of Platanias took place at the town hall in Gerani on Monday 20th January. According to a municipal announcement:
“In a simple ceremony performed by local priests, the holy vasilopita was blessed in the presence of the mayor Giannis Malandrakis, the leader of the Municipal Council, deputy mayors and heads of Public Enterprises, the heads of the majority and minority oppositions, councillors and employees of the Municipality of Platanias.
“The mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis gave a short account of the past year, concerning the activities and the works which had been completed and put in motion, and of the plans for the new administrative period, while he thanked the Municipality’s employees and their associates for their efforts and the municipal councillors for their contribution, wishing them a creative and productive year, with health and happiness for them and their families. The two tokens from the cake went to two Municipal employees, who each received three days’ leave and a personal gift from the mayor.”
At the Regional Authority of Crete
The ceremony conducted by the Region of Crete three days later was a slightly more modest affair, lacking the presence of the Church, with the Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnautakis himself cutting the vasilopita. With him were the leader of the Regional Council Evangelos Zacharis, deputy leader Maria Varda, the secretary Dimitris Vrysalis, and the Deputy Regional Governors for Heraklion Nikos Syrigonakis, for Chania Nikos Kalogeris, and for Lasithi Giannis Androulakis, and others. The flouri was won by Lasithi’s Regional Councillor for Culture Eleni Vlassi.
Earlier Mr Arnautakis had announced that the next sitting of the Regional Council would be one of assessment and planning, assigning priorities and targets for the coming year, while looking back at what had been achieved in the one just past. He said that as a member of the management board of the Union of Regions of Greece (ENPE), of which he is First Deputy President, “We have constant contacts with ministers, and through the Union we can claim the funds which we require to meet our responsibilities. With decentralised responsibilities and resources, we can do much more as local authorities than central government. We are close to the community, we have their support and we have demonstrated that we can be effective. And since there will shortly be institutional changes to local government, we are demanding that there should be significant improvements in that area.”
(Haniotika Nea, 20/01/25, 24/01/25)