Green Monday: Let’s Go Fly a Kite!

With the start of Lent just days away, Columbia Beach Resort is once again busy preparing to treat our guests to the well-loved celebratory customs of the island.

Kathara Deftera (translated as Clean Monday, but also known as Green Monday) is the first day of Lent and is named to indicate the cleansing of sins that is to take place in the 40-day Lenten period leading up to Easter. It also marks the beginning of the Lenten fast, in which people refrain from eating meat and dairy.

A public holiday, Green Monday – which often coincides with the first blossoms of spring – is typically joyful and carefree, as people across the island take to the fields and parks in celebrating the best way Cypriots know how: with food!

Whilst being meat- and dairy-free, the Green Monday feast is nevertheless rich and plentiful, composed of an array of fresh, seasonal vegetables, lagana bread, and a selection of seafood, including prawns and octopus.

As the tempting smell of barbecued seafood wafts through the air, hundreds of bright, colourful kites can also be spied decorating the skyline, with kite-flying being customary on Green Monday.

This year, Columbia Beach Resort’s guests will be able to indulge in a lavish Green Monday buffet lunch, before which families will be invited to test their kite-flying skills. There will also be a bouncy castle on hand for our younger guests (weather permitting).

We look forward to seeing you there! Check out our Green Monday Package!