Catholic liturgy

Shops will open at 1pm on Good Friday, and will remain open until 7pm local time.

On Holy Saturday, shops will remain open between 09.00-17.00 for Athens and 09.00-15.00 for Piraeus, 10.00-16.00 for Thessaloniki.

All public markets will operate normally on Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Orthodox Serbs mark Good Friday

BELGRADE -- Believers of the Serb Orthodox Church are today marking Good (Great) Friday, ahead of the greatest Christian holiday, Easter, they will celebrate on Sunday.

In his Easter message, SPC Patriarch Irinej and bishops wished all believers "faith, hope, love and eternal life."

Museums, monuments and archeological sites will have different opening times over the Easter period. Specifically, the opening times announced are:

Good Friday, April 10: noon to 5 p.m.
Holy Saturday, April 11: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Easter Sunday, April 12: Closed
Easter Monday, April 13: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Culture Ministry on Wednesday published the opening times for museum and archaeological sites over the Orthodox Easter weekend.

They will open at noon on Good Friday and close at 5 p.m.

On Easter Saturday, they will open at 8 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. but will be closed throughout the day on Eastern Sunday.

Easter Week is underway in predominately Orthodox Christian Greece, replete with solemn different liturgies for every day of the week leading up to Easter Sunday – the biggest date on the ecclesiastical calendar.

Despite the fact that Easter came early this year (beginning of April), most hotels will open at the end of the month, according to the Hellenic Hoteliers Association president.

Here are some traditions associated with Palm Sunday, the day when Christ entered Jerusalem, triumphantly greeted by crowds holding palms:
* Greeks traditionally eat fried codfish with garlic dip on this day. During years when there is a shortage of fish, people believe that the devil is preventing the fishermen from making a good catch.

Vespers Service

On Holy Wednesday, people head to church for the Service of the Holy Unction. The priest makes a sign of the Cross in oil on people's forehead for health and luck.

Red eggs

Minority Catholics and Protestants mark Good Friday

BELGRADE -- Serbia's Catholic and Protestant Christians are today marking Good Friday, ahead of the most important Christian holiday, Easter.

The country's majority Orthodox Christian population will celebrate the holiday one week later, on April 12.

BELGRADE - The Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Belgrade Stanislav Hocevar has sent his Easter greetings to the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church with the message that, with his life, only Jesus Christ is showing them the path to true life.