This paper is concerned with the nestinarstvo, a dance on fire practiced until the early 20th century in villages of the Strandzha area (east of Thrace) inhabited by Greek and Bulgarian populations. The rite was preserved until the sixties in Bulgaria in the only village of Balgari, while it is still alive today in northern Greece in areas inhabited by Greek immigrants from the Strandzha. A fifteen-years research work carried out in the village of Balgari demonstrates that the nestinarstvo is a whole ritual that marks village time and space. Dance on fire is the culminating point of the feast celebrated in honour of St Constantin, whose legendary life is evoked.