GALAXIDI, Greece: Marking the end of carnival season festivities and the start of the Lent season, the Greek seaside town of Galaxidi exploded into a messy and colorful "flour war" on February 23.

Revelers pelted each other with bags of dyed flour, and most of the residents and visitors merrily took part, while the more prudent ones enjoyed the show from the safety of their balconies.

Within a couple of hours, the celebration was mostly over, and Galaxidi's main coastal road was a flour-strewn mess. Some diehards, however, were determined to stretch it far into the night.

"This custom was brought here by (our ancestors) in their sailboats, in 1800. It only exists here," said Panayiotis Paphilis, a resident.

Every year on Clean Monday, the start of Lent in the Orthodox Christian calendar, Galaxidi bursts into a riot of colors. Lent is a 40-day period of fasting that ends at Easter. Clean Monday also marks the end of the carnival season, which still includes many old traditions from before Christianity.

Many of the visitors this year were young people coming to Galaxidi for the first time.
"We had a great time. We'll come back," said 28-year-old Stephanos Kapetanakis, who was there with friends.

In most parts of the country, Clean Monday is celebrated quietly, with people flying kites and eating large amounts of shellfish and other seafood.

But in Galaxidi, a former important port about 200 kilometers west of Athens, the celebrations are loud and lively. People try to make the event even more exciting each year.

Many of these festivals originated in ancient pagan times and later became part of the Christian calendar.

However, Galaxidi's famous "flour war" is more recent. It began in the 19th century, when sailors brought the idea from similar festivals in Sicily. At that time, ships built in Galaxidi sailed trade routes around the world.

Later, the town's success declined. Galaxidi, which has about 1,700 residents, became isolated. Ship traffic to its two harbors decreased, and there was no road connecting it to the rest of the country because it was surrounded by mountains.

A road was finally built in the 1960s. But the town's long isolation helped preserve its special character.