Greek Epiphany Celebration in Istanbul

Reblogged from C A L L E J E A N D O . . .:

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Epiphany (6 January, also Theophany) celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. In Greece the feast is colloquially called the "Phōta" (Greek: Φώτα, "Lights") and customs revolve around the Great Blessing of the Waters. Also in Istanbul, the Greek community celebrated today Epiphany. Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. threw a wooden cross into the waters of the Golden Horn and swimmers raced to be the first to retrieve it.

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