Diving for a metallic cross is an annual event observed by several Orthodox countries to celebrate Theophany, also known in the Christian world as the feast of Epiphany. It refers to the manifestation of God to man and normally celebrated in January.
In Albania it is an event traditionally participated only by the male population.
Well, not anymore.
A 16-year-old Albanian girl named Katerina Munguli broke with tradition by joining and competing with the boys and men in diving for the metallic cross thrown into the bottom of the chilly Ionian Sea.
What was remarkable, however, about Munguli’s break with tradition is that she surfaced with the cross in her hand, beating her male rivals, to the surprise and amusement of the crowd and the priests!
“We were all happy a girl got it. She is the youngest of four sisters and behaves a bit like a boy,” Vladimir Kumi, the chairman of the local council, who co-organized the ceremony, said.
Munguli received from the council the prize of 10,000 leks (80 euros). The priests is said to have given her also an extra prize.
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