Discover Episkepsi: Traditions and Olive Groves

Episkepsi brings local customs together with a distinctive village setting. Its defining features include the Dance of the Elders, Lazarus songs, grand mansions, and olive groves. The two musical traditions are clearly distinct. The dance centers on a set sequence and a religious setting; the Lazarus songs are associated with the eve of Lazarus Saturday and singing in the village neighborhoods.

The Dance of the Elders in Episkepsi

The Dance of the Elders is performed without musical instruments, and women do not take part. The order of participants is also precisely defined: the oldest priest leads the dance, followed by younger clergy and then laypeople in order of age. The youngest participant brings the dance to a close. This sequence makes the hierarchy of roles an essential feature of the custom.

The dance takes place in the courtyard of the Church of Saint Basil. A 2023 account describes it as an established annual tradition and gives the time as 5 p.m., after the Vespers of Forgiveness. If you would like to plan your trip around this custom, check in advance when it will actually take place; the reported time alone is not a current event schedule.

Locals call the dance “Δόξα να..”—after the first line of its song, which praises God for giving the world each new day. The name thus draws attention both to the sung verse and to its religious meaning. Together with the church courtyard and the set sequence, it gives a precise sense of what distinguishes the dance.

Lazarus songs on the eve of Lazarus Saturday

A 2019 account describes how, every year on the eve of Lazarus Saturday, Lazarus songs are sung in a special way in Episkepsi. After nightfall, the village choir and many other people sing throughout all the neighborhoods. The songs tell the story of the miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead.

The focus here is therefore different from that of the Dance of the Elders: the Lazarus songs combine a specific place in the religious calendar with communal singing and a story from the life of Lazarus. If you are interested in local musical traditions, these let you distinguish two different forms without treating them as a single custom.

Village setting and landscape

Episkepsi is built in an amphitheatrical layout. The village has grand mansions typical of the Corfiot countryside, and olive groves surround it. These features draw attention to different scales: the layout describes the village’s arrangement, the mansions its buildings, and the olive groves the surrounding landscape.

In addition to its customs, Episkepsi offers an architectural and landscape focus. If you are particularly interested in the village setting, you can include these topics in your trip planning alongside dance and song.

Corfu as a broader travel destination

The broader travel destination of Corfu offers additional cultural topics that are distinct from those of Episkepsi. Corfu’s Old Town has preserved almost all of its historic urban fabric; its buildings date from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The Old Town and its two fortresses are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Museum of Asian Art in the Old Town contains more than 11,000 objects from China, Japan, India, the Himalayas, and Central Asia.

Corfu also offers other attractions for hikers: in the municipal unit of Achilleion, ancient paths wind through the wooded mountains of Agii Deka, Stavros, and Garouna and are suitable for hiking. The 180-kilometer Corfu Trail passes through several settlements; Benitses is one of its 13 daily stage stops. These examples broaden the local focus on Episkepsi to include urban heritage and hiking opportunities across the wider destination.

When looking for a hotel in Episkepsi, it helps to decide what matters most: do you want your stay to focus mainly on local traditions and the village setting, or would you also like to explore the cultural and hiking attractions of the wider destination of Corfu? This can help you choose your focus without conflating the distinctive features of Episkepsi with what other places on Corfu have to offer.

Discover more destinations: Kassiopi, Gazatika, Sidari, Viros, Pélekas, Nisaki, Roumanades, Perivoli.

Back to the broader travel guide: Corfu.