The celebration of Epiphany in the Bay at Kavala, Greece. On the stroke of January 6th, the 'twelve days' of Christmas officially come to an end. This day takes on a special meaning in Greece. This card shows the special ceremony of blessing the waters and of the vessels that ply them. A priest hurls a large crucifix into the waters and young men brave the cold and compete to retrieve it. The second largest city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala prefecture, Kavala is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thassos. Kavala was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1387 to 1912. Liberated by the Greek Navy during the first Balkan war of 1913.