It is difficult to find a person who would be indifferent to the New Year holidays! Love for this magical night is in everyone from early childhood. New Year everyone associates with gifts, sweets, fun and good mood! But few people know why the calendar year begins on January 1st. Meanwhile, the history of this holiday is rich and interesting.

Why is New Year celebrated on January 1st?

New Year is one of ancient holidays, but there is still no single date for the beginning of the year in the world. different peoples keep track of time from different periods, and in some countries there is no fixed date at all, and the chronology is based on the lunar calendar.

In pre-Christian times, many peoples celebrated this important holiday on the day of the winter solstice. In Russia, until the 10th century, the beginning of the new year was celebrated on days close to spring equinox. The celebration of the birth of the year in spring was natural - people rejoiced at the end of a long winter, the addition of a day, a new harvest.

With the advent of Christianity (988-989), Russia switched to the Julian calendar. Since that time, the beginning of the year began to be celebrated on the first day of spring, which is considered the day of the birth of the world. At the same time, the year was divided into 12 months and each of them was given its own name, corresponding to natural phenomena.

In 1492, the start date of the year was moved to September 1st. The corresponding decree was signed by John the Third. To create for the people festive mood, the sovereign arranged a magnificent celebration in the Kremlin, to which everyone was invited. On this day, any ordinary person could approach the king and ask him for help, which the ruler almost never refused. The last time in this format the New Year was celebrated in Russia in 1698, then the sovereign presented each guest with an apple and affectionately called his brother.

The fact that the New Year's holiday falls on January 1, the Russians owe to the great reformer Peter the Great - it was he who, by decree "On the reform of the calendar in Russia", ordered the New Year's celebration to be postponed to a day generally accepted in Europe. By decree of the king, all residents of cities and towns had to joyfully celebrate the holiday, congratulate each other and give gifts. The sovereign gave the order to launch the first rocket exactly at midnight, congratulating everyone who had gathered on Red Square on the new year 1700.

Since 1897, January 1 has become an official non-working day in Russia. This was enshrined in the relevant decree and applied to all workers in factories, factories and other industries.

After the power in the country was in the hands of the Bolsheviks, the beginning of the year began to be celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar. Thus, the holidays fell on the period of fasting, which made them uninteresting for Christians. The Communists also did not really celebrate the New Year, Christmas trees were banned in the country, and festivities were not approved. In the period from 1930 to 1947, this day was a typical working day, and only in 1947 was it returned to the status of a day off.

For a long time in the Soviet Union, only January 1 was considered a holiday, and a two-day weekend was established in 1992. Russians received even more holidays in 1995 - then a decree was issued on five-day New Year holidays ah, which actually lengthened the January holiday to 8-10 days. In 2013 to public holidays were counted on 6 and 8 January.

Where did Santa Claus come from

The image of Santa Claus appeared much earlier than the celebration of the New Year. In Russian folklore, the keeper of the cold was most often evil and unfriendly. After the beginning of the year was moved to winter time, the frosty lord received a new role - he began to give gifts and bring people of all ages a holiday.

The modern Santa Claus has his own birthday - November 18 and his own house, which is located in Veliky Ustyug. Now he receives requests for gifts by e-mail and transmits his coordinates via a satellite navigation system.

History of the Christmas tree

A Christmas tree decorated with toys and garlands is the main symbol of the New Year, without which it is difficult to imagine a cheerful and tasty holiday. It was customary to decorate spruces in ancient times, when the beginning of the year was celebrated on the day of the spring solstice. Then the Slavs sang songs near the Christmas trees, led round dances and danced.

In Russia, the coniferous beauty appeared in 1700, as you might guess, this elegant custom was introduced by Peter the Great. However, only by the middle of the 19th century did the festive tree spread throughout the country and became a people's favorite, personifying not only the New Year, but also the Nativity of Christ. In 1920, the Bolsheviks banned the decoration of coniferous trees, classifying this custom as a religious remnant. Only in 1936 did the spruce return legally, and the symbolic five-pointed star began to decorate its top.

Russian New Year is a holiday that has absorbed the customs of paganism, Christianity and European enlightenment. On December 20, 1699, the decree of Emperor Peter I “On the celebration of the New Year” was issued, overnight throwing the whole country three months ahead - the Russians, accustomed to the September meeting of the new year, should have met the year 1700 on January 1 ..

pagan echo

Until the end of the 15th century, spring was considered the end of the annual cycle in Russia (the same ideas still exist in some countries of Central Asia). Before the adoption of Orthodoxy, this holiday was associated exclusively with pagan beliefs. Slavic paganism, as you know, was closely intertwined with the cult of fertility, so the new year was celebrated when the earth awakens from its winter sleep - in March, with the first spring equinox.

During the winter solstice, it was preceded by 12-day "Kolyadas", from which the tradition of "mummers" to go from house to house and sing songs, scattering grain at the threshold, has survived to this day. And today, in many remote corners of Russia and the CIS, it is customary to give pancakes and kutya to “mummers”, and in ancient times these dishes were put on the windows to appease the spirits.

Caroling has come down to us from pagan times. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

With the adoption of Orthodoxy, the ritual side of the meeting of the new year, of course, has changed. Orthodox Church for a long time did not attach much importance to it, but in 1495 she got to this holiday - it was officially appointed on September 1. On this day, the Kremlin held the ceremonies "On the Beginning of a New Summer", "For the Summer" or "The Action of Long-term Health". The celebration was opened by the patriarch and the tsar on the cathedral square of the Moscow Kremlin, their procession was accompanied by the ringing of bells. From the end of the 17th century, the tsar and his retinue went out to the people in the most elegant clothes, and the boyars were ordered to do the same. The choice fell on September, because it was believed that it was in September that God created the world. With the exception of a solemn church service, the New Year was celebrated like any other holiday - with guests, songs, dances and refreshments. It was then called differently - "The first day of the year."

The winter is coming

The tradition was preserved for almost 200 years, after which a whirlwind of changes by the name of Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov burst into the life of the Russian people. As you know, the young emperor, almost immediately after ascending the throne, began tough reforms aimed at eradicating old traditions. Having traveled around Europe, he was inspired by the Dutch way of celebrating the New Year. In addition, he did not want to pace in a gold-embroidered vestment along the cathedral square - he wanted the fun that he had seen abroad.

On December 20, 1699 (according to the old reckoning, it was 7208), on the threshold of a new century, the emperor issued a decree that read: our Orthodox faith is accepted, all those peoples, according to their years, count from the Nativity of Christ on the eighth day later, that is, from January 1, and not from the creation of the world, for many strife and counting in those years, and now 1699 comes from the Nativity of Christ year, and on the 1st of the next January, a new year 1700 begins, along with a new centennial century; and for that good and useful deed, he indicated that henceforth the years should be counted in orders, and in all deeds and fortresses to write from this January, from the 1st day of the Nativity of Christ, 1700.

Fragment of the decree of Peter I from 1699. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The decree was long and very detailed. It stipulated that everyone should decorate their houses with spruce, pine and juniper branches these days and not remove decorations until January 7th. Noble and simply wealthy citizens were ordered to fire cannons in the yards at midnight, shoot into the air with rifles and muskets, and a grandiose fireworks display was arranged on Red Square.

On the streets, the emperor ordered to burn firewood, brushwood and resin fires and keep the fire going throughout the festive week. By 1700, almost all European countries had already switched to the Gregorian calendar, so Russia began to celebrate the New Year 11 days later than Europe.

frightening change

September 1 remained a church holiday, but after the Peter the Great reform it somehow faded into the background. The last time the rite of summer conduct was performed on September 1, 1699, in the presence of Peter, who sat on the throne in the Kremlin Cathedral Square in royal clothes, received a blessing from the patriarch and congratulated the people on the new year, as his grandfather did. After that, the magnificent autumn celebration was over - by the will of Peter, the traditions of enlightened Europe merged with pagan nature, from which the rites of wild fun remained.

For the common people, all this was just as incomprehensible as at one time for the boyars - the need to shave their beards and dress in a Western manner. The commotion that happened at first was described in the historical novel "Peter I" by Alexei Tolstoy:

“Such a ringing has not been heard in Moscow for a long time. They said: Patriarch Adrian, not daring to argue with the tsar in anything, released a thousand rubles and fifty barrels of strong patriarchal half-beer to the sexton. The bells on the belfries and belfries rang out squatting. Moscow was shrouded in smoke, steam from horses and people ... Through the ringing of bells, shots crackled all over Moscow, cannons barked in bass. Dozens of sleighs galloped by, full of drunken and mummers, smeared with soot, in turned-out fur coats. They lifted their legs, waving damasks, yelled, raged, fell out in a heap at the feet of the common people, stupefied by the ringing and smoke. The tsar with his neighbors, with the prince-paw, the old dissolute Nikita Zotov, with the most joking archbishops - in the archdeacon's robe with cat's tails - traveled around noble houses. Drunk and fed up, they still swooped in like locusts, not so much eating as scattering, yelling spiritual songs, urinating under the tables. The owners got drunk to amazement and - let's go further. So that the next day they would not come from different places, they spent the night side by side right there, in someone's yard. They walked around Moscow with joy from end to end, congratulating them on the advent of the new year and the centennial century. The townspeople, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to lean out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? The devil, or something, whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break old custom- backbone, than they lived ... Although they lived closely, but honestly, they saved a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and pinches gathered in the underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would live only until the oil day: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment will sound ... "

On January 6, the first "pro-Western" celebrations in Russian history ended in Moscow with a procession to the Jordan. Contrary to the old custom, the tsar did not follow the clergy in rich attire, but stood on the banks of the Moscow River in uniform, surrounded by the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, dressed in green caftans and camisoles with gold buttons and braid.

The boyars and servants also did not escape the imperial attention - they were obliged to dress in Hungarian caftans and dress their wives in foreign dresses. For everyone, it was a real torment - the established way of life was collapsing for centuries, and the new rules looked uncomfortable and intimidating.

This way of celebrating the New Year was repeated every winter, and gradually New Year trees, midnight cannon volleys, and masquerades took root.

Citizens of the Soviet country, having gone to bed on January 31, 1918, woke up on February 14. The "Decree on the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic" came into force. Bolshevik Russia switched to the so-called new, or civil, style of calculating time, which coincided with the church Gregorian calendar used in Europe. These changes did not affect our Church: she continued to celebrate her holidays according to the old, Julian calendar.

The calendar split between Western and Eastern Christians (believers began to celebrate the main holidays in different time) occurred in the 16th century, when Pope Gregory XIII undertook another reform that replaced the Julian style with the Gregorian one. The purpose of the reform was to correct the growing difference between the astronomical year and the calendar year.

Obsessed with the idea of ​​world revolution and internationalism, the Bolsheviks, of course, did not care about the Pope and his calendar. As stated in the decree, the transition to the Western, Gregorian style was made "in order to establish in Russia the same time calculation with almost all cultural peoples" .... At one of the first meetings of the young Soviet government in early 1918, two draft reforms of time were considered "The first proposed a gradual transition to the Gregorian calendar, each year dropping 24 hours. This would take 13 years. The second provided for doing it in one fell swoop. It was he who liked the leader of the world proletariat Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who surpassed the current ideologist of multiculturalism Angela Merkel in globalist projects.

Competently

Religious historian Alexei Yudin on how Christian churches celebrate Christmas:

First, let's make it clear right away: to say that someone celebrates on December 25, and someone on January 7 is incorrect. Everyone celebrates Christmas on the 25th, but according to different calendars. In the next hundred years, from my point of view, no unification of the celebration of Christmas is to be expected.

The old Julian calendar, adopted under Julius Caesar, lagged behind astronomical time. The reform of Pope Gregory XIII, which from the very beginning was called papist, was perceived extremely negatively in Europe, especially in Protestant countries, where the reformation was already firmly established. The Protestants were opposed primarily because "it was conceived in Rome." And this city in the XVI century was no longer the center of Christian Europe.

Red Army soldiers take out church property from the Simonov Monastery on a subbotnik (1925). Photo: wikipedia.org

The reform of the calendar, if desired, can, of course, be called a split, bearing in mind that the Christian world has already split not only along the East-West principle, but also within the West.

Therefore, the Gregorian calendar was perceived as Roman, papist, and therefore unsuitable. Gradually, however, the Protestant countries accepted it, but the process of transition took centuries. This is how things were in the West. The East paid no attention to the reform of Pope Gregory XIII.

The Soviet Republic switched to new style, but this, unfortunately, was connected with the revolutionary events in Russia, the Bolsheviks, of course, did not think about any Pope Gregory XIII, they simply considered the new style to be the most adequate to their worldview. And the Russian Orthodox Church has an additional trauma.

In 1923, at the initiative of the Patriarch of Constantinople, a meeting of Orthodox churches was held, at which a decision was made to correct the Julian calendar.

Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, of course, were unable to travel abroad. But Patriarch Tikhon nevertheless issued a decree on the transition to the "New Julian" calendar. However, this caused protests among believers, and the decision was quickly canceled.

You can see that there were several stages of searching for a match on a calendar basis. But this did not lead to the final result. So far, this issue has not been included in a serious church discussion at all.

Is the Church afraid of another schism? Undoubtedly, some ultra-conservative groups within the Church will say: "The sacred time has been betrayed." Any Church is a very conservative institution, especially when it comes to everyday life and liturgical practices. And they rest against the calendar. And the church-administrative resource in such matters is ineffective.

Every Christmas, the theme of switching to the Gregorian calendar pops up. But this is politics, profitable media presentation, PR, whatever you want. The Church itself does not participate in this and is reluctant to comment on these issues.

Why does the Russian Orthodox Church use the Julian calendar?

Father Vladimir (Vigilyansky), rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University:

Orthodox churches can be roughly divided into three categories: those that serve all church holidays according to the new (Gregorian) calendar, those that serve only according to the old (Julian) calendar, and those that mix styles: for example, in Greece, Easter is celebrated according to the old calendar, and all other holidays are celebrated in a new way. Our churches (Russian, Georgian, Jerusalem, Serbian and Athos monasteries) have never changed church calendar and they did not mix it with Gregorian, so that there would be no confusion in the holidays. We have a single calendar system, which is tied to Easter. If we switch to celebrating, say, Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, then two weeks are “eaten up” (remember how February 14 came after January 31 in 1918), each day of which carries a special semantic significance for an Orthodox person.

The church lives according to its own order, and in it many significant things may not coincide with secular priorities. For example, in church life there is a clear system of progression of time, which is tied to the Gospel. Every day, excerpts from this book are read, in which there is a logic associated with the gospel story and the earthly life of Jesus Christ. All this lays down a certain spiritual rhythm in the life of an Orthodox person. And those who use this calendar do not want and will not violate it.

A believer has a very ascetic life. The world can change, we see how before our very eyes fellow citizens have a lot of opportunities, for example, for recreation during the secular New Year holidays. But the Church, as one of our rock singers sang, "will not bend under the changing world." We will not make our church life dependent on the ski resort.

The Bolsheviks introduced new calendar"for the purpose of calculating the time identical with almost all cultural peoples." Photo: Publishing project of Vladimir Lisin "Days of 1917 100 years ago"

Since by this time the difference between the old and new styles was 13 days, the decree ordered that after January 31, 1918, not February 1, but February 14 be counted. By the same decree, until July 1, 1918, after the number of each day according to the new style, in brackets, write the number according to the old style: February 14 (1), February 15 (2), etc.

From the history of chronology in Russia.

The ancient Slavs, like many other peoples, initially based their calendar on the period of change in the lunar phases. But already by the time of the adoption of Christianity, that is, by the end of the tenth century. n. e., Ancient Russia used the lunisolar calendar.

Calendar of the ancient Slavs. It was not finally possible to establish what the calendar of the ancient Slavs was. It is only known that initially time was counted according to the seasons. Probably, at the same time, a 12-month moon calendar. In later times, the Slavs switched to the lunisolar calendar, in which an additional 13th month was inserted seven times every 19 years.

The oldest monuments of Russian writing show that the months had purely Slavic names, the origin of which was closely connected with natural phenomena. At the same time, the same months, depending on the climate of those places in which different tribes lived, received different names. So, January was called where the cross section (the time of deforestation), where it was blue (after the winter cloudiness, a blue sky appeared), where it was jelly (because it became cold, cold), etc .; February - cut, snow or fierce (severe frosts); March - berezosol (there are several interpretations here: birch begins to bloom; they took sap from birch trees; burned birch on coal), dry (the poorest in precipitation in ancient Kievan Rus, in some places the earth was already drying up, sokovik (a reminder of birch sap); April - pollen (flowering gardens), birch (beginning of birch flowering), oak tree, oak tree, etc.; May - grass (grass turns green), summer, pollen; June - worm (cherries turn red), isok (grasshoppers chirp - “isoki ”), milky; July - Lipets (linden blossom), worm (in the north, where phenological phenomena are late), sickle (from the word “sickle”, indicating harvest time); August - sickle, stubble, glow (from the verb “roar "- the roar of deer, or from the word "glow" - cold dawns, and possibly from "pazors" - polar lights); September - veresen (heather bloom); ruen (from the Slavic root of the word meaning tree, giving yellow paint); october - leaf fall, "pazdernik" or "kastrychnik" (pazders - hemp bonfires, the name for the south of Russia); November - breast (from the word "pile" - a frozen rut on the road), leaf fall (in the south of Russia); December - jelly, breast, blueberry.

The year began on March 1, and from about that time they started agricultural work.

Many of the ancient names of the months later passed into a number of Slavic languages ​​and have largely survived in some modern languages, in particular in Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish.

At the end of the tenth century Ancient Russia adopted Christianity. At the same time, the chronology used by the Romans passed to us - the Julian calendar (based on solar year), with Roman names for the months and a seven-day week. The account of years in it was conducted from the "creation of the world", which allegedly occurred 5508 years before our reckoning. This date - one of the many options for eras from the "creation of the world" - was adopted in the 7th century. in Greece and has long been used by the Orthodox Church.

For many centuries, March 1 was considered the beginning of the year, but in 1492, in accordance with church tradition, the beginning of the year was officially moved to September 1 and was celebrated this way for more than two hundred years. However, a few months after the Muscovites celebrated their regular New Year on September 1, 7208, they had to repeat the celebration. This happened because on December 19, 7208, a personal decree of Peter I was signed and promulgated on the reform of the calendar in Russia, according to which a new beginning of the year was introduced - from January 1 and a new era - the Christian chronology (from the "Christmas").

Petrovsky's decree was called: "On writing henceforth Genvar from the 1st of 1700 in all papers of the summer from the Nativity of Christ, and not from the creation of the world." Therefore, the decree ordered the day after December 31, 7208 from the "creation of the world" to be considered January 1, 1700 from the "Christmas". In order for the reform to be adopted without complications, the decree ended with a prudent clause: “And if anyone wants to write both those years, from the creation of the world and from the Nativity of Christ, in a row freely.”

Meeting of the first civil New Year in Moscow. The day after the announcement on Red Square in Moscow of the decree of Peter I on the reform of the calendar, that is, on December 20, 7208, a new decree of the tsar was announced - "On the celebration of the New Year." Considering that January 1, 1700 is not only the beginning of a new year, but also the beginning of a new century (Here a significant mistake was made in the decree: 1700 is last year XVII century, and not the first year of the XVIII century. The new century began on January 1, 1701. A mistake that is sometimes repeated even today.), the decree prescribed to celebrate this event with particular solemnity. It gave detailed instructions on how to organize a holiday in Moscow. On New Year's Eve, Peter I himself lit the first rocket on Red Square, thus signaling the opening of the holiday. The streets were illuminated with illumination. The ringing of bells and cannon fire began, the sounds of trumpets and timpani were heard. The king congratulated the population of the capital on the New Year, the festivities continued all night. Multi-colored rockets flew up from the courtyards into the dark winter sky, and “along the large streets, where there is space”, fires burned - bonfires and tar barrels attached to poles.

The houses of the inhabitants of the wooden capital were dressed up in needles “from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper”. For a whole week the houses stood decorated, and at nightfall the lights were lit. Shooting "from small cannons and from muskets or other small weapons", as well as launching "rockets" were entrusted to people "who do not count gold." And the “meager people” were offered “everyone, at least a tree or a branch on the gate or over his temple.” Since that time, the custom has been established in our country every year on January 1 to celebrate New Year's Day.

After 1918, there were more calendar reforms in the USSR. In the period from 1929 to 1940, calendar reforms were carried out in our country three times, caused by production needs. So, on August 26, 1929, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the transition to continuous production in enterprises and institutions of the USSR", in which it was recognized as necessary from the 1929-1930 financial year to begin a systematic and consistent transfer of enterprises and institutions to continuous production. In the autumn of 1929, a gradual transition to "continuous work" began, which ended in the spring of 1930 after the publication of a resolution by a special government commission under the Council of Labor and Defense. This resolution introduced a single production time sheet-calendar. The calendar year provided for 360 days, i.e. 72 five-day periods. It was decided to consider the remaining 5 days as holidays. Unlike the ancient Egyptian calendar, they were not located all together at the end of the year, but were timed to coincide with the Soviet memorable days and revolutionary holidays: January 22, May 1 and 2, and November 7 and 8.

The employees of each enterprise and institution were divided into 5 groups, and each group was given a day of rest every five days for the whole year. This meant that after four days of work there was a day of rest. After the introduction of the "continuity" there was no need for a seven-day week, since days off could fall not only on different days of the month, but also on different days of the week.

However, this calendar did not last long. Already on November 21, 1931, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the Intermittent Production Week in Institutions", which allowed the people's commissariats and other institutions to switch to a six-day interrupted production week. For them, regular days off were set on the following dates of the month: 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30. At the end of February, the day off fell on the last day of the month or was postponed to March 1. In those months that contained but 31 days, the last day of the month was considered a full month and paid separately. The decree on the transition to a discontinuous six-day week came into force on December 1, 1931.

Both the five-day and six-day days completely broke the traditional seven-day week with a common day off on Sunday. The six-day week was used for about nine years. Only on June 26, 1940, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree "On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions", In the development of this decree, on June 27, 1940, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted the resolution, in which he established that “beyond Sundays, non-working days are also:

January 22, May 1 and 2, November 7 and 8, December 5. The same decree abolished the existing rural areas six special days of rest and non-working days on March 12 (Day of the overthrow of the autocracy) and March 18 (Day of the Paris Commune).

On March 7, 1967, the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions adopted a resolution "On the transfer of workers and employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations to a five-day work week with two days off", but this reform did not in any way affect the structure of the modern calendar.

But the most interesting thing is that the passions do not subside. The next round happens already in our new time. Sergey Baburin, Viktor Alksnis, Irina Savelyeva and Alexander Fomenko submitted a bill to the State Duma in 2007 - on the transition of Russia from January 1, 2008 to the Julian calendar. In the explanatory note, the deputies noted that "the world calendar does not exist" and proposed to establish transition period from December 31, 2007, when within 13 days the chronology will be carried out simultaneously according to two calendars at once. Only four deputies took part in the voting. Three are against, one is for. There were no abstentions. The rest of the elect ignored the vote.

4.4 (88.57%) 7 vote[s]

The history of the New Year holiday. In ancient times, for many peoples, the year began in spring or autumn. V Ancient Russia the new year started in March. It was met as a holiday of spring, sun, warmth, and expectation of a new harvest.

When Christianity was adopted in Russia at the end of the 10th century, they began to celebrate the new year according to the Byzantine calendar - September 1, at the very beginning of autumn.

On the eve of 1700, the Russian Tsar Peter I issued a decree to celebrate the New Year according to European custom - January 1.

Peter invited all Muscovites to decorate their homes with pine and spruce flowers.

Everyone had to congratulate relatives and friends on the holiday. At 12 o'clock at night, Peter I went to Red Square with a torch in his hands and launched the first rocket into the sky. Fireworks began in honor of the New Year holiday.

Three hundred years ago, people believed that by decorating Christmas tree, they make evil forces kinder. The evil forces have long been forgotten, but the Christmas tree is still a symbol of the New Year holiday.

How old is Santa Claus?

It seems to us that this kind old man with a snow-white beard, a friend of children and forest animals, came to us a very long time ago, like other famous heroes of Russian fairy tales.

But in fact, he is the youngest of the Russian fairy tale characters. Good Santa Claus, a symbol new year holidays, it became about 100-150 years ago.

But already in ancient times, the Russian people told tales and legends about Frost - a strong and evil old man, the owner of snowy fields and forests, who brought cold, snow, snowstorms to the earth.

He was called differently: Moroz, Morozko, and more often, with respect, by his first name and patronymic: Moroz Ivanovich. In those days, he rarely gave gifts, on the contrary, people who believed in his strength gave gifts to him so that he would become kinder.
When in Russia they began to celebrate the New Year in winter, on the night of December 31 to January 1, Santa Claus became the main character of our holiday. But his character changed: he became kinder and began to bring gifts to children on New Year's Eve.

The history of the new year

Imagine that the ancestors of Santa Claus in some countries are considered "local" gnomes. In others, medieval itinerant jugglers who sang Christmas carols, or itinerant sellers of children's toys.

There is an opinion that among the relatives of Santa Claus there is an East Slavic spirit of cold cracker, he is Student, Frost.

The image of Santa Claus has evolved over the centuries, and each nation has contributed something of its own to its history.

But among the ancestors of the old man was, it turns out, quite real person. In the 4th century, Archbishop Nicholas lived in the Turkish city of Mira. According to legend, he was a very kind person.

So, once he saved the three daughters of a distressed family by throwing bundles of gold into the window of their house. After the death of Nicholas, he was declared a saint. In the 11th century, the church where he was buried was robbed by Italian pirates.

They stole the remains of the saint and took them to their homeland.

The parishioners of the church of St. Nicholas were outraged. An international scandal erupted. This story made so much noise that Nicholas became the object of veneration and worship of Christians from different countries peace.

In the Middle Ages, the custom was firmly established on Nicholas Day, December 19, to give gifts to children, because the saint himself did this.

After the introduction of the new calendar, the saint began to come to the children at Christmas, and then on the New Year. Everywhere the good old man is called differently: in Spain ─ Papa Noel, in Romania ─ Mosh Dzharila, in Holland ─ Sinte Klaas, in England and America ─ Santa Claus, and in our country ─ Santa Claus.

The Santa Claus costume did not appear immediately either.

At first he was depicted in a raincoat. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Dutch depicted him as a slender pipe smoker, skillfully cleaning the chimneys through which he threw gifts to children.

At the end of the same century, he was dressed in a red fur coat trimmed with fur. In 1860, the American artist Thomas Knight adorned Santa Claus with a beard, and soon the Englishman Tenniel created the image of a good-natured fat man.

With such Santa Claus, we are all well acquainted.

How was the New Year celebrated in the old days

Some peoples keep track of time according to the lunisolar calendar, and the beginning of the year falls somewhere in autumn, where in winter.

But basically, the celebration of the New Year among the ancient peoples coincided with the beginning of the revival of nature and was timed, as a rule, to March.

March was considered the first month by the ancient Romans, because at this time field work began.

The year consisted of ten months, then the number of months was increased by two. In 46 BC. e. Roman emperor Julius Caesar moved the beginning of the year to January 1st. The Julian calendar named after him spread throughout Europe.

The Romans on this day made sacrifices to Janus and started major events with him, considering the first day of the year an auspicious day.

In France, at first (until 755) they counted from December 25, then from March 1, in the 12th century ≈ from the day of Easter, and from 1564, by decree of King Charles IX, from January 1.

In Germany, the same thing happened in the middle of the 16th century, and in England from the 18th century.
But how was it with us, in Russia?

In Russia, from the time of the introduction of Christianity, fulfilling the customs of their ancestors, they also began the chronology either from March or, more rarely, from the day of Holy Easter, in 1492, Grand Duke John III finally approved the decision of the Moscow Cathedral to consider as the beginning of both church and civil year, the first of September, when it was ordered to pay tribute, duties, various dues, etc., but for. in order to give great solemnity to this day, the tsar himself appeared in the Kremlin the day before, where everyone, whether a commoner or a noble boyar, could approach him and seek directly from him truth and mercy (By the way, something similar happened in Byzantium during the time of Constantine the Great).

The last time the New Year in Russia was celebrated with royal splendor was on September 1, 1698. Dressing everyone with an apple, the king calling everyone a brother, congratulated everyone on the New Year, on new happiness.
Each congratulatory cup of Tsar Peter the Great was accompanied by a shot from 25 guns.

Since 1700, Tsar Peter issued a decree to celebrate the New Year not from the day of the creation of the world, but from the Nativity of the God-man, referring to the European nations.

It was forbidden to celebrate September 1, and on December 15, 1699, the drum bai announced to the people on Red Square (from the lips of the royal clerk) that, as a sign of a good undertaking and the beginning of a new century, after thanksgiving to God and prayer singing in the church, it was ordered “along the large passing streets, and noble people in front of the gate to make some decoration from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper.

And for poor people (i.e., the poor), at least put a tree or branch over the gate. And so that it ripens by the 1st number of 1700 of this year; and to stand for that decoration of Invar (i.e., January) until the 7th day of the same year.

On the 1st day, as a sign of fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, and do this when fiery fun begins on Red Square and there will be shooting.

The decree recommended, if possible, to everyone in their yards from small cannons or small guns "fire three times and fire a few missiles." From January 1st to January 7th "at night, light fires from firewood, or from brushwood, or from straw."

Tsar Peter I was the first to launch a rocket. Wriggling in the air like a fiery snake, she announced the New Year to the people, and after that the celebration began “and throughout Belokamennaya”.

As a sign of the national holiday, cannons were fired, and in the evening, in the dark sky, multi-colored fireworks, never seen before, flashed. Illumination flashed.

People had fun, sang, danced, congratulated each other and gave new Year gifts. Peter I steadily made sure that this holiday was no worse and no poorer in our country than in other European countries.

He was a resolute man and in one fell swoop resolved all calendar inconveniences. By the beginning of the reign of Peter the Great in Russia was the year 7207 (from the creation of the world), and in Europe 1699 (from the birth of Christ).

Russia began to establish ties with Europe, and such a "time difference" was very disturbing. But that was over.

It was from January 1, 1700 that the folk New Year's fun and fun gained their recognition, and the celebration of the New Year began to have a secular (non-church) character. From now on and forever this holiday was enshrined in the Russian calendar.

This is how the New Year came to us, with Christmas decorations, lights, bonfires (which Peter ordered to arrange at night from 1 to 7 January by lighting tar barrels), creaking snow in the cold, winter children's fun ≈ sleds, skis, skates, snowmen, Santa Claus, gifts ...

It must be said that new new year customs took root among the Slavs quite quickly, because earlier at that time there was another Christmas holiday.

And many old rituals - funny carnivals, tricks of mummers, sleigh rides, midnight fortune-telling and round dances around the Christmas tree - fit well into the New Year's ritual.

And although it was frosty at that time, the cold did not frighten people. As you know, they burned bonfires in the streets, performed dances around them, calling on the sun (which they deified from time immemorial) to warm the earth bound by snow and frost.