Every year, on the last Sunday of the Carnival in Amorgos, the custom of the Captain is revived with great success and strong traditional character! Not only in one village but in two at the same time, in Aegiali and Tholaria.

On the morning of the last day of the so-called Cheese Week, when according to religious fasting the consumption of meat is forbidden while the consumption of dairy products is allowed, the young people of Aegiali gather in Loza, the square of Lagada, and start for the church of Epanochoriani, a priest or the oldest man of the village chooses the “Captain”. In the same climate are the young people in Tholaria who gather in the chapel of Ag. Dimitriou with their own Captain.

Then he and his friends put on the local traditional costumes and set off for the procession. Throughout the custom, traditional island songs, usually lute and violin, are played by local musicians. The leader of the procession, the so-called “bairaktaris”, before leading the Captain and his group of men to Lagada, prepares the “bairaki”. The wooden pole that tops a piece of cod or octopus, a loaf of bread and a small head of cheese. The cheese symbolizes Turin, the cod and the bread the beginning of Lent. The Captain rides his decorated horse and they all start singing along with the musicians and the people. Thus, they arrive at “Portara”, the entrance of Lagada, where the free girls of Aegiali, the Captains, are waiting for them. also dressed in traditional costumes. In the case of the other procession in the direction of Tholaria, it arrives at noon at the entrance of the village in Seladi, where the unmarried girls are waiting for them and then follow them. 

They all walk together in the alleys of the villages making stops outside houses and shops to be treated to Amorgian roasted raki and local wine.

Returning to Loza (those of Aegiali) and the church of Agios Anargyros (those of Tholaria), the Captain dances the first dance with his friends. The aspiring Captainesses are waiting for the dance to end so that he can choose his beloved by throwing a handkerchief at her, publicly revealing his love. This is followed by a traditional island feast, until the morning, rich in roasted raki, wine, local delicacies and appetizers, such as green pies, fried fish, donuts and xerotigana. The two villages are 15 minutes away by car, so you manage to fly from one to the other and enjoy both parties!