The Timeless Custom of Kavos in Tripotamos, Tinos: A Culinary and Spiritual Journey

Crossroads Inn is nestled in the traditional village of Tripotamos, where on Christmas Day revives the culmination of the unique custom of “Kavos”, a living testament to the village's rich history.

This ancient custom, beginning from New Year’s Day, and continuing throughout the year until its annual cycle closes on the following Christmas with a ritual celebration, blends ancient Greek traditions with Orthodox Christian practices, found exclusively in Tripotamos, Tinos.

A Mystical Custom Rooted in Antiquity:

New Year's Day Greek Orthodox religious procession of Kavos is only the beginning. The rituals surrounding the custom of Kavos are maintained throughout the year with the final act taking place on Christmas Day in a way that, to the uninitiated, seems mystical and often apocryphal.

Tripotamos, one of the oldest Cycladic villages, near the Exombourgo significant archaeological site, suggests Kavos' origins go back deep into the folds of time and touch upon ancient forms of worship. None of the custom’s countless interpretations have revealed the how’s and why’s it was established. No one can tell with any certainty how deep into the past the roots of Kavos reach. The only thing clear is that the custom’s concept and structure have led researchers to the premise that it is as ancient as the ancient cult of the goddess Demeter at the Thesmophoriae temple of her, located at the foot of the Rock of Exombourgo, and that it involves indecipherable elements, codes, and rituals. Information as to how and when the custom was embraced by Orthodox Christianity is just as inaccessible, with records only dating back to the 1600s.

The center of Kavos custom seems to evolve around a "vigil light," an ever-burning flame, an inherently dynamic element of nature, which leads the procession on New Year's Day, preceding even the icons and the priest. On that day, homes remain impassable until they are visited by the 'light of Kavos', that purifies homes and ushers them in the New Year.

The Sacred Fires of antiquity (archaeological site located at the foot of the Rock of Exombourgo) and the charcoal-burning braziers used in ancient purification rituals spring to mind effortlessly upon seeing that 'vigil light' carried around with precisely the same purifying purpose. Thus, this flame, reminiscent of ancient rituals at Exombourgo, symbolizes the custom's enduring nature.

In Greek, “kavos” means “mooring rope”, the rope used to secure boats onto a permanent fixture on quays and piers to prevent their movement. It is thus that the vigil light “secures” the custom to its ancient and initial nucleus since it has remained “unsleeping” for centuries, burning day and night without ever being allowed to go out. Many are those who have argued that the word “kavos” comes from the Italian “capo” which means “in charge”. In that sense, again, we must turn for the name of the custom to the person who leads the procession, and is placed in charge for the vigilant, unsleeping light. Both the eternally “vigil light” at the head of the procession and the term “kavos” seem to mesh into a code which understood by the initiated centuries ago and is a riddle today.

New Year's Day Blessings and Treats:

On New Year’s Day, no one enters or visits any one of the village’s houses before the entrance of the 'vigil light' and the holy icons bringing blessings to the household by “setting foot” inside (called 'podariko'), while the priest chants a supplication. Each household receives flame from the procession’s 'vigil light' lantern and offers treats to those participating.

Christmas Day Communal Meal with Symbolic Dishes:

Spiridon Foskolos, Tripotamos’ late priest, gave us a description of the preparations that begin on Christmas Eve and surround that culminative communal meal of the feast of Brotherly Love on Christmas Day: “In the morning of Christmas Eve the village women gather at the hall where the meal will take place to clean the cooking vessels and utensils, peel the pearl onions for the ‘stifado’ meat stew, and stuff the grape leaves with the rice.” Although the women take care of the numerous tasks involved in preparing the meal’s courses of the meal, it is only the men who cook on the next day.

“On Christmas Day, church bells toll at 5, at the crack of dawn. The first to arrive at the church is Kavos holding a basket filled with candles. As they enter the church, each congregant receive a candle. As soon as the first notes of the Cherubicon are heard, the cooks receive the priest’s blessing and after worshipping before the holy icon of the Virgin Mary, they light the fireplaces, getting them ready for the 7 cauldrons. These cauldrons contain soup, the different meat recipes, the stuffed grape leaves.” Precisely at noon, the bells toll again, and the procession of the icon of the Birth of Jesus makes rounds of the village. As soon as the procession ends, the dining table is already set inside the adjoining hall of the church, awaiting the male heads of the village’s families. On their entrance, they exchange a ‘monastic handshake’ which signifies instant recognition and trust. It flags the instant reconciliation between and among the men present, who must automatically leave behind any differences and disputes they may have had up to then before sitting down to their communal meal.

Only men, heads of the village families sit at the table and in the old days, the custom decreed that they should bring along their own plate, bread, and eating utensils, bundled up in a towel. Even though on this day only men sit on the table, on the second day of Christmas (December 26th), the same meal welcomes the entire village, with everyone sitting down to eat, drink, and celebrate.

The priest of Tripotamos gives his blessing, and the dishes are served in a specific order decreed by the custom, an order which has remained unperturbed and unchanged for centuries. The menu served at that men-only Christmas table has remained unaltered for centuries, and it is forbidden to add or take away any of the dishes comprising it.

Menu dishes have symbolic meanings and are as follows:

‘Soupa Avgolemono’: Beef broth with rice, thickened with egg and lemon.
Beef with lemon sauce: A hearty beef dish.
‘Stifado’: Beef stew with small pearly onions braised in tomato sauce, symbolizing sweetness.
‘Ampelontolmades’: Stuffed grape leaves that symbolize unity and brotherly love. As lore goes, “the people of the village should be tightly knit with one another just like the rice remains tightly packed within the rolled grape leaves which, in turn, are placed close to each other”.
‘Rosto’: Beef braised in a rich tomato sauce with onions and six beef tongues, warding off gossip.
Fruits: Apples, oranges, and mandarins.
Wine: Flowing freely in old brass bowl-like goblets without handle. Many of these goblets have engraved dates and names of people who once sat at this table.

In earlier decades and during this meal, the public life of Tripotamos for the coming year was in the hands of the leaders of the village families who sat at the Kavos’ table. They would discuss the public works that had to be carried out, involving roads or public facilities in need of maintenance. All projects discussed and approved of would be managed communally.

The Passing of the Kavos and Enduring Responsibilities:

Following the meal, the bells toll again, and a religious service marks the passing of the Kavos to a new caretaker, a role determined by a 50+ year waiting list. Everyone at the table stands up and shouts “Axios”, meaning worthy of the heavy task to take the role. The Kavos has a succession of important tasks that are as morally binding as they are financially. He is responsible for the care of the village church, must ensure at any cost that the 'vigil light' burns undisturbed in the oil lamp throughout the year, never to be allowed to go out, and purchases the candles.

Ancient Echoes and Christian Devotion:

While Kavos' exact origins remain debated, whether elements of the custom were transferred into Orthodox Christian religious practices from the Thesmophoriae, the celebrations surrounding the cult of Demeter, one thing is certain: Today Kavos is a custom that is as profoundly Christian as Tripotamos and the land of Tinos Island.

(Source: Translated and text adapted by Tch. McCoy from N. Zervonikolakis’ superbly absorbing narrative on Jan 4, 2008.)