Divine inspiration: Where to celebrate Easter in Europe

Join in with traditional festivities during a seasonal sojourn to one of these colourful cities

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Leonidio, Greece

Three hours by car from Athens, Leonidio is one of the best places in which to participate in Greece's rich and varied Easter traditions. The most spectacular takes place the evening before Easter Sunday, and sees locals gather in the central square of the town before setting off a colourful array of hundreds of balloons into the sky at midnight, marking "Christos Anesti" – Christ is risen. In the weeks leading up the event, local children raise money after every Friday's church service to make as many balloons as possible, leading to friendly competition between the parishes. Easter in the Greek Orthodox Church usually falls on a different date to Easter in the UK as they use a different calendar system in their church. However this year both celebrations happen to fall on the same weekend in April.

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