The festival usually begins with an ecclesiastical ceremony. The local priest hurls a cross into the sea, and the diver who brings it up and hands it back receives a blessing and the prize of a sovereign, which marks the start of the rest of the festivities.

The events in Agia Napa, Limassol, Paphos and Polis are always among the most popular and the ceremonies and partying may well last for a few extra days - depending on the town. Expect folk dances, boat races, swimming competitions, wrestling, canoe-races, swimming-races and bellowing of songs such as tchattista, which are improvised verses sung by different parties competing with each other.

The most popular custom however involves throwing water at one another, symbolising the purification of the body as well as the soul (and offering a perfect excuse to let rip).

Many believe that Kataklysmos originated from ancient ceremonies in honour of Aphrodite and Adonis. The word kataklysmos, meaning flood, is found both in the book of Genesis and in the Greek myth of Deukalion. In both, it refers to the destruction of life on Earth, apart (of course) from the faithful and men of God...