When is the feast of Saint Dionysios in Zante?
Twice a year: on 17 December, the day Saint Dionysios died in 1622, and on 24 August, when the island remembers the arrival of his relic from the Strofades islands in 1717.
The Holy Metropolis of Zakynthos, the island's Orthodox diocese, says each feast lasts three days. The next one is in winter, from 16 December to 19 December 2026, with the saint's day itself on Thursday, 17 December 2026; the summer feast follows from 23 August to 26 August 2027.
| Dates | What is remembered | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 16 December – 19 December 2026 | The death of the saint, on 17 December 1622 | Three days of services; the relic is carried through the town on the morning of the 17th |
| 23 August – 26 August 2027 | The arrival of his relic from the Strofades, in 1717 | Three days of services; the relic is carried through the town on the afternoon of the 24th |
What happens at the procession?
The relic of the saint leaves his church and is carried through the streets of Zante Town, on the afternoon of 24 August and on the morning of 17 December. The Metropolis describes these processions as the most moving hours of both feasts.
The services are always sung in the island's own style of church music, with many bishops, the whole of the local clergy and, in the Metropolis's words, thousands of the faithful. Visit Greece, the official site of the Greek National Tourism Organisation, sees in both feasts how closely the town is tied to its traditions and faith.
Easter brings the town's other great processions, with a different route and timetable: see Greek Easter in Zante.
Who was Saint Dionysios?
He was a Zakynthian nobleman: the count Draganigos Sigouros became a monk of the Strofades monastery in 1568, under the name Daniel, and was its abbot by around 1570.
Ordained Archbishop of Aegina, he took the name Dionysios. He died on 17 December 1622 and, as he had asked, was buried at the Strofades monastery; when his remains were exhumed a few years later, they were found intact.
The Strofades are two small islands some forty nautical miles south of Zakynthos. After a pirate raid on 19 August 1717, the two monks who escaped carried the relic to Zakynthos, and the seat of the monastery moved with it to the town, where it has stayed ever since.
Where is the church of Agios Dionysios?
It stands by the sea in Zante Town, about 1 km south of Solomos Square as the crow flies. It is the church of the Monastery of Strofades and Agios Dionysios, and it keeps the relic in a silver reliquary made by Georgios Diamantis Bafas in 1829.
The earthquake of 1893 destroyed the earlier church and monastery, and the present church was consecrated on 22 August 1948. Its bell tower, about 40 m high, was rebuilt after the earthquake and fire of August 1953.
Inside hangs a painting of the saint's procession by the priest Nikolaos Koutouzis, from 1766, and the monastery's church museum opened in a new wing in 2000. We have not found official opening hours for the church or the museum, so we don't give any.
The rest of the town, from Solomos Square up to the castle, is in Zante Town by day.
How do you get to the church from Laganas or Argasi?
By road, the church is 3 km from Argasi and 8 km from Laganas, by our route calculation on OpenStreetMap data.
If you stay in town past midnight, Greek taxis switch to tariff 2 from 00:00 to 05:00. The full official fare table is in our guide from Zante airport to Laganas.
Is there a night out around the feast?
In August, yes: the summer feast falls in the middle of the club season. In the 2026 season, Tuesday, 25 August 2026, one of the feast days, was also a Martedì Bianco night at Club Barrage, on the road from the town to Argasi, with doors at 00:00.
Every August 2026 night is on our August page.
December is another story. Club Barrage's own events page lists nothing after its closing night on 10 October 2026, so the winter feast is about the town and its church, not the clubs; the summer 2027 nights will appear on our 2027 page as the venues publish them.
