When is Greek Easter?
Easter Sunday Calculator
We are always being asked what day Greek Easter Sunday falls upon and so, having done some research, we can provide you with a list for the next few years. Of course, if you are planning a trip to Greece from a country which does not recognise the Orthodox Easter you will probably need to know the dates of the Western Easter Sundays as public holidays are invariably built around these dates.
webmaster [at] thecorfiot [dot] com (Contact us) if you spot any apparent errors! PLEASE Check out the disclaimer further down this page!
Here are a few dates to be going on with for quick reference:
| Western Calendar | Orthodox Calendar |
|---|---|
| 8/4/2012 | 15/4/2012 |
| 31/3/2013 | 5/5/2013 |
| 20/4/2014 | 20/4/2014 |
| 5/4/2015 | 12/4/2015 |
| 27/3/2016 | 5/4/2016 |
Overview - Calendars
The following information explains briefly the differences between the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. and in the case of the Julian calendar, its importance when calculating Greek Easter Sundays.
The Julian calendar applies to the original calculation method from 326 AD, which was the first year a unified Easter Dating method was used. Some methods claim to work from 1 AD, which is just plain silly - Easter was not celebrated before Christ's death, and as already stated, a unified method was not used until 326 AD. The Julian calendar had fallen out of alignment in measuring solar years (keeping months aligned with seasons) well before the Gregorian calendar was introduced. Neverthess, the Julian calendar is still used today by Orthodox churches as the basis for their Easter.
The Gregorian calendar was first introduced in October 1582 in Italy, and has subsequently replaced the Julian calendar over following years in other countries. The last country to adopt the Gregorian calendar was Greece in 1922. This calendar is highly accurate, but will need a day adjustment in or shortly after 4100 AD. So Easter algorithms using the Gregorian calendar apply to years 1583 AD to 4099 AD.
Note that there is a new Easter Sunday date calculation that applies to the Gregorian calendar, but it was not necessarily adopted in all countries at the same time the Gregorian calendar was introduced. So you may need to do some research to determine how different countries implemented these changes. Of course, churches still using the Julian calendar simply convert their Julian Easter Sunday date to the equivalent date in the Gregorian calendar.
Further information about Easter dates
The GM Arts website provides far more information around the calculation of easter dates than we could ever hope to. Check out their site HERE
And the mandatory disclaimer ...
IF YOU USE THESE DATES TO PLAN TRAVEL, MEETINGS, OR FOR ANY PURPOSE REQUIRING THE EXPENDITURE OF MONEY, TIME, OR OTHER RESOURCES, PLEASE CONSULT OTHER SOURCES TO VERIFY EASTER DATES.
Neither we, (RD & PM Giles, GM Arts nor anyone who owns the hardware or manages the host machines of this page, nor anyone who has contributed any information that has been used in this document, may be held financially responsible, or responsible in any way if these dates are wrong or mis-interpreted. The user assumes full responsibilty for the consequences of using this information.
