About Orthodox Easter Tuesday
This day is a bank holiday in Cyprus.
The date of Orthodox Easter is often different from Western Easter as the other Christian Churches base the date of calculating Easter on the Gregorian calendar, but the Eastern Orthodox Church still uses the earlier Julian calendar for calculating the dates of festivals, which also includes Easter.
This difference can often mean that Orthodox Easter falls later than Easter observed elsewhere. The earliest date it can fall is April 4th and the latest is May 8th.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the preparations for Easter begin with Great Lent, 40 days of reflection and fasting, which starts on Clean Monday and ends on Lazarus Saturday. In the western churches, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday.
As the principal feast of the Orthodox Chruch, Easter would have been a week-long holiday. It is now usually only a holiday on Good Friday and Easter Monday.
