Kathikas residents re-enacted the journey of the Holy Cross to Golgotha on Friday in a tradition the village has embraced for several decades. The procession was attended by locals and visitors of all ages.

Kathikas community leader Menelaos Tourvas said that the Easter tradition was started by the late priest of Kathikas, over fifty years ago.

The then priest of the community had visited Jerusalem, Tourvas said, where he witnessed a similar event. He liked the idea and carried it to his parish. Upon his return, he lifted and carried the cross on his shoulders thereby conveying the feeling he experienced in Jerusalem to his parishioners.

‘Papasavvas’, as he was locally known, carried the cross until his death when the role was taken over by the village mayor. The cross is carried yearly on Good Friday in the village from the chapel of Agios Onoufrios to the Holy Temple of Evangelistria in the center of Kathikas.