By the way, for residents of Russian cities New Year is the main holiday of winter and is celebrated on January 1. However, there are exceptions among urban residents who do not celebrate New Year. The real holiday for the believer is Christmas. And in front of him is a strict Christmas fast, which lasts 40 days. It begins on November 28 and ends only on January 6, in the evening, with the rising of the first star. There are even villages, settlements where all residents do not celebrate the New Year or celebrate it on January 13 (January 1 according to the Julian style), after Lent and Christmas.

And now back to the history of the celebration of the New Year in Russia

The celebration of the New Year in Russia has the same difficult fate as its history itself. First of all, all the changes in the celebration of the new year were associated with the most important historical events affecting the entire state and each person individually. Undoubtedly folk tradition even after the officially introduced changes in the calendar, it retained ancient customs for a long time.

Celebration of the New Year in pagan Russia

How was it celebrated New Year in pagan ancient Russia - one of the unresolved and controversial issues in historical science. No affirmative answer was found from what time the countdown of the year began.

The beginning of the celebration of the new year should be sought in ancient times. So among the ancient peoples, the new year usually coincided with the beginning of the revival of nature and was mainly timed to coincide with the month of March.

In Russia, there was a span for a long time, i.e. the first three months, and the summer month began in March. In honor of him, they celebrated avsen, ovsen or tusen, which later passed to the new year. Summer itself in antiquity consisted of the present three spring and three summer months - the last six months concluded winter time. The transition from autumn to winter was blurred like the transition from summer to autumn. Presumably, originally in Russia, the New Year was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox. March 22. Maslenitsa and New Year were celebrated on the same day. Winter is over and it means the new year has arrived.

Celebration of the new year after the baptism of Russia

Together with Christianity in Russia (988 - the Baptism of Russia), a new chronology appeared - from the creation of the world, and a new European calendar - Julian, with a fixed name of the months. The beginning of the new year was considered March 1.

According to one version at the end of the 15th century, and according to another in 1348, the Orthodox Church moved the beginning of the year to September 1, which corresponded to the definitions of the Council of Nicaea. The transfer must be connected with the growing importance of the Christian Church in the state life of ancient Russia. The strengthening of Orthodoxy in medieval Russia, the establishment of Christianity as a religious ideology, naturally causes the use of "Holy Scripture" as a source of reform introduced into the existing calendar. The reform of the calendar system was carried out in Russia without taking into account the working life of the people, without establishing a connection with agricultural work. The September New Year was approved by the church, which followed the word of the Holy Scriptures; having established and substantiated it with a biblical legend, the Russian Orthodox Church has preserved this New Year's date right up to the present as a church parallel to the civil new year. In the Old Testament church, the month of September was celebrated annually, in commemoration of rest from all worldly worries.

Thus, the new year began to lead from the first of September. This day became the feast of Simeon the First Stylite, which is still celebrated by our church and known to the common people under the name of Semyon the Summer Guide, because this day summer ended and the new year began. It was our solemn day of celebration, and the subject of parsing urgent conditions, collecting dues, taxes and personal courts.

Innovations of Peter I in the celebration of the new year

In 1699, Peter I issued a decree according to which they began to consider the beginning of the year 1st of January. This was done following the example of all Christian peoples who lived not according to the Julian, but according to the Gregorian calendar. Peter I could not completely transfer Russia to the new Gregorian calendar, since the church lived according to the Julian. However, the tsar in Russia changed the reckoning. If earlier the years were counted from the creation of the world, now the reckoning has gone from the Nativity of Christ. In a nominal decree, he announced: “Now the year one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine comes from the Nativity of Christ, and from next January, from the 1st, a new year 1700 and a new century will come.” It should be noted that the new chronology existed for a long time together with the old one - in the decree of 1699 it was allowed to write two dates in documents - from the Creation of the world and from the Nativity of Christ.

The implementation of this reform of the Great Tsar, which was of such importance, began with the fact that it was forbidden to celebrate September 1 in any way, and on December 15, 1699, the drumbeat announced something important to the people, who poured in crowds on the Red square. A high platform was arranged here, on which the tsar's clerk loudly read the decree that Pyotr Vasilyevich orders "from now on to count in orders and in all affairs and fortresses to write from January 1 from the Nativity of Christ."

The king kept a close eye on New Year's celebration was no worse and no poorer than in other European countries.

In the Petrovsky decree it was written: "... On the large and passing streets, noble people and at the houses of deliberate spiritual and worldly rank in front of the gates, make some decorations from trees and branches of pine and juniper ... and for meager people, each at least a tree or a branch on the gate or put it over your temple ... ". The decree was not specifically about the Christmas tree, but about trees in general. At first, they were decorated with nuts, sweets, fruits and even vegetables, and they began to decorate the Christmas tree much later, from the middle of the last century.

The first day of the New Year 1700 began with a parade on Red Square in Moscow. In the evening, the sky was lit up with bright lights of festive fireworks. It was from January 1, 1700 that the people New Year's fun and fun received their recognition, and the celebration of the New Year began to be secular (not church) in nature. 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. People had fun, sang, danced, congratulated each other and gave New Year's gifts.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the government of the country raised the issue of reforming the calendar, since most European countries had long since switched to the Gregorian calendar, adopted by Pope Gregory XIII back in 1582, while Russia still lived according to the Julian.

On January 24, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the "Decree on the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic." Signed V.I. The document was published by Lenin the next day and entered into force on February 1, 1918. It, in particular, said: "... The first day after January 31 of this year should be considered not February 1, but February 14, -m, etc." Thus, Russian Christmas shifted from December 25 to January 7, and the New Year holiday also shifted.

There were immediate conflicts with Orthodox holidays, after all, having changed the dates of civil, the government did not touch the church holidays, and Christians continued to live according to the Julian calendar. Now Christmas was celebrated not before, but after the New Year. But this did not bother the new government at all. On the contrary, it was beneficial to destroy the foundations of Christian culture. The new government introduced its own, new, socialist holidays.

In 1929, Christmas was cancelled. With it, the Christmas tree, which was called the "priestly" custom, was also canceled. New Year's Eve was cancelled. However, at the end of 1935, an article by Pavel Petrovich Postyshev appeared in the Pravda newspaper "Let's organize a good Christmas tree for the new year for children!" The society, which has not yet forgotten the beautiful and bright holiday, reacted quite quickly - Christmas trees and Christmas decorations. Pioneers and Komsomol members took upon themselves the organization and conduct of Christmas trees in schools, orphanages and clubs. On December 31, 1935, the Christmas tree again entered the homes of our compatriots and became a holiday of "joyful and happy childhood in our country" - a wonderful New Year's holiday that continues to delight us today.

old New Year

I would like to once again return to the change of calendars and explain the phenomenon of the Old New Year in our country.

The very name of this holiday indicates its connection with the old style of the calendar, according to which Russia lived until 1918, and switched to new style by decree of V.I. Lenin. The so-called Old Style is a calendar introduced by the Roman emperor Julius Caesar (Julian calendar). The new style is a reform of the Julian calendar, undertaken at the initiative of Pope Gregory XIII (Gregorian, or new style). The Julian calendar, from the point of view of astronomy, was not accurate and made an error that accumulated over the years, which resulted in serious deviations of the calendar from the true movement of the Sun. Therefore, the Gregorian reform was to some extent necessary.
The difference between the old and the new style in the 20th century was already plus 13 days! Accordingly, the day, which was January 1 according to the old style, became January 14 in the new calendar. And the modern night from January 13 to 14 in pre-revolutionary times was New Year's Eve. Thus, celebrating the Old New Year, we kind of join the history and pay tribute to the times.

New Year in the Orthodox Church

Surprisingly, the Orthodox Church lives according to the Julian calendar.

In 1923, at the initiative of the Patriarch of Constantinople, a meeting of the Orthodox Churches was held, at which a decision was made to correct the Julian calendar. The Russian Orthodox Church, due to historical circumstances, was unable to take part in it.

Having learned about the conference in Constantinople, Patriarch Tikhon nevertheless issued a decree on the transition to the "New Julian" calendar. But this caused protests and discord among the church people. Therefore, the decision was canceled less than a month later.

The Russian Orthodox Church states that it is not currently facing the issue of changing the calendar style to Gregorian. "The vast majority of believers are committed to preserving the existing calendar. The Julian calendar is dear to our church people and is one of the cultural features of our life," said Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, Secretary for Inter-Orthodox Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations.

The Orthodox New Year is celebrated on September 14 according to today's calendar or September 1 according to the Julian calendar. In honor of the Orthodox New Year, prayers are served in churches for the new year.

The second decade of the 21st century is coming to an end, and we are entering the year 2020, which will be . According to the Eastern (Chinese) calendar, new year 2020 will pass under the sign. Federal News Agency represents Interesting Facts about the celebration of the New Year, without a doubt, the most beloved holiday in Russia.

Why the New Year is celebrated on January 1: the history of the holiday

In ancient times different peoples celebrated the New Year at different times, mainly in spring or autumn, according to the agricultural calendar. In Russia, the New Year was celebrated for a long time in the fall, after the harvest.

idea to celebrate New Year January 1 belongs to the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, the beginning of this tradition was laid in 46 BC. The holiday was dedicated to the deity of the Roman pantheon - the two-faced Janus, which, thanks to two faces, is turned both to the past and to the future. The names of the months are also mostly Roman - so January is named after Janus.

Gradually, the custom to start the New Year on January 1 migrated to Europe, and then - under the emperor PetreI- in Russia. This happened in 1700. Under Peter, New Year's celebrations were actually obligatory, and plentiful libations were considered no less obligatory. Initially, the New Year holiday (unlike Christmas) was conceived as completely secular, and did not provide for any special restrictions in terms of behavior, up to outright liberties.

Then in Russia, following the example of Germany, they began to use spruce as a New Year and Christmas tree. The evergreen spruce symbolized eternal life, as well as the tree of knowledge, the forbidden fruit of which killed the ancestress Eve. It was originally customary to decorate the Christmas tree with apples, nuts and sweets, which were then replaced with toys made of glass and other materials.

An integral part of the New Year and closely related Christmas holidays have become Santa Claus and its Russian counterpart - Father Frost. Santa Claus is a saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, who was a merciful and generous saint who gave gifts to children and adults.

Russian Father Frost is a more secular character associated with folk beliefs about the lord of cold from Slavic myths. Unlike Western Santa, Santa Claus has a young relative - a granddaughter Snow Maiden.

Why is New Year celebrated before Christmas in Russia?

In the West, as is known, it is first celebrated Nativity, a holiday largely family, and then - the New Year, which is a public celebration.

In Russia, the opposite is true: first, a rather drunken New Year, which (horror!) falls on time Christmas Lent and then Christmas itself. The explanation for this oddity is historical.

The fact is that, unlike the Western world, Russian empire never switched to the Gregorian calendar and lived according to the Julian calendar, which lagged behind the European one by 13 days. Immediately after the revolution, the creator of the Soviet state Vladimir Lenin removed the backlog and introduced the Gregorian calendar in the country, "moving" time forward by 13 days. However, the anti-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church did not recognize the modern calendar, although such attempts were made.

And so it happened - the Orthodox Church in Russia notes Christmas according to the julian calendar from 6 to 7 January. B about The majority of the population, allowing themselves New Year's excesses, nevertheless, celebrates Christmas, according to Orthodox traditions. This is facilitated by the fact that today in Russia Christmas is a day off.

In memory of this historical conflict, an unofficial, absolutely secular and purely Russian holiday remained - old New Year, which is marked from 13 to 14 January.

Modern traditions of celebrating the New Year

After the revolution, the New Year was not celebrated immediately due to the similarity of the holiday with the religious Christmas, which was officially banned in the early years of Soviet power. In the early 1930s, the celebration of the New Year was returned, taking Christmas paraphernalia, but altering it not just in a secular way, but in a Soviet way - a five-pointed star on a Christmas tree, toys in the form of Soviet symbols, and so on.

Father Frost was also returned, but in order to completely hide his connection with St. Nicholas, they added the Snow Maiden, a purely folklore image from Slavic legends.

By the 70s of the last century, a certain New Year's ritual had been developed in the USSR, which, with some modern nuances, has been preserved to this day. These are Olivier, herring under a fur coat and mimosa, sandwiches with red caviar, roast, tangerines and champagne. The fashion for these attributes is alive to this day, as well as the New Year's address of the head of the country to citizens. Then the chimes strike, under the first blow of which everyone clinks glasses with a New Year's drink and makes a wish.

It also applies to New Year's traditions in a special way, where the famous "Irony of Fate" is an indispensable attribute. Eldara Ryazanova, as well as all sorts of "Blue Lights" and their more modern clones.

Today the New Year is almost a decade (New Year and Christmas holidays), while in Soviet times rested only on January 1st. Since the official New Year's night entertainment has now appeared, on a festive night it is customary not only to drink and eat at home, but also to participate in street festivities, as well as fireworks. The latest tradition, which came from China, has become an invariable attribute of the holiday.

Chinese New Year

Fashion to celebrate New Year Chinese calendar(in 2020 this) came to the USSR and Eastern Europe in the 70s of the last century, along with a passion for oriental exoticism, as well as esotericism, astrology and other, frankly, pseudosciences. , and now every New Year, store shelves are filled with images of an animal symbol, and in connection with this, a lot of different tips.

By the way, let no one be embarrassed that the New Year Eastern calendar will come only on January 25, 2020: it’s worth starting to honor the Rat already in advance - right on New Year’s Eve

New Year's signs

There is a large number of New Year's signs, both folk and more modern, including those associated with the Chinese calendar.

The main tradition sounds like this: how you celebrate the New Year, so you will spend it. Therefore, you need to celebrate the holiday in a smart update, at a well-laid table, in joy and fun. Then, according to the sign, the whole year will be fun, satisfying and in abundance.

Also, before the New Year, it is customary to clean the house and distribute debts - this is the key to a clean and calm year.

What colors does the Rat prefer?

In order to honor the mistress of the coming year, the Rat, according to all the rules, you need to use her favorite colors, which include White black, as well as all shades red, yellow orange, brown, ocher and so on. You should not dress in bright blue (the rat is afraid of water), and also dress up as a leopard or a snake (cats and snakes are the natural enemies of rats).

Preferably used in an outfit. metal accessories especially welcome silver.

What to put on the table

The table should be varied, with salads, meat and cheese abundance, fruits, vegetables and pastries (the Rat is omnivorous and has an excellent appetite), but you should not luxury at the expense of reasonableness. The mistress of the year - the eastern Rat - is hospitable and generous, but at the same time reasonable and economical.

What to give in the Year of the Rat

It is advisable to make giftsbecause the Rat is a practical creature. It is appropriate to give money, the prudent Rat will appreciate it.

New Year fortune telling

FAN wrote about New Year's fortune-telling earlier, the most spectacular is the collective one. How to turn this fun business, and what else is there, read the material Federal News Agency.

And the most important thing (by the way) is a good New Year's mood. It is he who will help not only to have fun, but also to have a good time for the whole coming year.

We open the champagne, celebrating the offensive new Year and congratulating each other on this event? And why do we celebrate the new year again after 14 days?

If you still don't know the answer to these questions, immediately start reading the article!

When and why did they begin to celebrate the new year on the night of December 31 to January 1

It is believed that everything began in the Roman Empire. It was there that Roman astronomers developed and named after the great dictator Gaius Julius Caesar, the Julian calendar. After that, it gradually became the basis routine of life for the entire Catholic world. However, as the basis of this calendar, which supplanted the imperfect old Roman calendar, the Romans took the method of counting the days of the period of Hellenistic Egypt.

Even then, in Egypt, which was part of the empire of Alexander the Great (it was this period that was called the Hellenistic period), an astronomical culture was developed, which made it possible to develop fairly accurate calendar. However, some mistakenly believe that it was the stars that somehow led people to the idea that the year should begin on January 1st. Actually, it is not.

"Fault" to everything - the Roman gods and consuls

The Romans had many gods they worshipped, including the infamous two-faced god Janus. He was famous not only for what he had two persons, but also by the fact that he patronized the so-called attributes of entrances and exits (that is, doors, gates, keys, locks, and much more).

Bulat Silvia/Getty Images Pro

Actually, his duplicity obligated God to look in the direction of the entrance and in the direction of the exit. The Romans also revered Janus as the god of beginnings, which in a certain way is connected with an entrance somewhere, with an introduction (for example, with the introduction of a new year, in new era, into a new era of government, and so on).

The great ruler and commander Julius Caesar considered that for such an important god the suitable month is the month of January, which, by the way, was not the first at all, but eleventh month in the so-called old Roman calendar. By the way, we call Janus Janus. In the language of the ancient Romans (that is, in Latin), the god was called Januarius (Ianuarius). And the month of January, if you use the Russian language, is, in fact, the month of Janus.

With the light but firm hand of the dictator Caesar, it was customary to start the new year (that is, enter the new year) on January 1. The old Roman calendar has been replaced julian calendar, according to which the Romans began to live in 45 BC. And Caesar himself was not ignored, renaming the summer month Quintilis in July (Iulius in Latin) in his honor. But that's not all!

boggy22/Getty Images

Interesting fact

Gaius Julius Caesar became Consul of the Roman Republic on January 1, 44 BC. Actually, it was the tradition of the Empire - consuls took office Exactly January 1st. Thus, this date - January 1 - was chosen by Caesar so that every year begins with it, not by chance.

A little later, just some one and a half thousand years later (in 1582, October 4), the Julian calendar was "pushed" by the same Catholics due to some of its imperfections, which did not take into account some factors. The Gregorian calendar was introduced, in which the onset of the new year was still celebrated (and is celebrated to this day) on January 1.

What factors were not taken into account by the fairly easy-to-use Julian calendar? In the Julian calendar, each year has an average of 365 days, there is every four years and there is a leap year. However, there is such a thing as tropical year- this is the period of time during which there is a cycle of change of different seasons due to the movement of the Sun in relation to the observer from the Earth.

Serezniy/Getty Image

• The Julian calendar met certain astronomical criteria fairly accurately; It was quite comfortable use it when the seasons change. But still the accuracy was not complete!

According to the Julian calendar, each year is longer than the tropical year by 11 minutes and 14 seconds. It would seem that, small amount. However, every 128 years this shift was summed up in one day! And for almost one and a half thousand years of the existence of the Julian calendar, this shift amounted to as much as 10 days.

This shift affected one very important day for Christians around the world - the Easter holiday. As is known, this religious holiday celebrated on the first Sunday following after full moon falling on the day of the spring equinox. But due to the imperfection of the Julian calendar, the celebration of Easter shifted in relation to the day of the vernal equinox.

The Gregorian calendar introduced under Pope Gregory XIII "leveled out" the 10-day shift formed due to the millennial dominance of the Julian calendar and took into account some nuances associated with a leap year. At the same time, the day of celebration of the new year remained the same - January 1, although the Gregorian calendar itself "spread" around the world rather slowly.

Evgenii Meyer

Initially, European countries switched to it, then the Julian calendar began to be abandoned in the colonies of European countries around the world. However, despite the fact that the difference between the dates of the Gregorian and Julian calendars every 400 years increases by three days, the transition to a new date system was not carried out everywhere and not immediately. Saudi Arabia was the last to switch to this more advanced system of counting days. This happened very recently, in 2016.

New year in Russia

Despite the fact that everything, as they say now, progressive humanity began to voluntarily-compulsorily be transferred to the Gregorian calendar from 1582, in Russia, celebrating the New Year on the night of December 31 to January 1 began only in 1700. The corresponding decree was issued by Peter I, focusing on other European countries.

However, even then Russia continued to live according to the Julian calendar. Russia began to use the Gregorian calendar already in the status of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. January 26, 1918 A special decree was issued on the introduction of the Gregorian calendar on the territory of Russia from February 1, 1918.

What is the new year according to the old style

According to the decree on the introduction of the Gregorian calendar on the territory of the Russian Republic, the first day after January 31, 1918 had to be considered not on the afternoon of February 1, and in the afternoon on February 14. The introduction of this decree in more early period the Orthodox Church interfered, which had a very negative attitude towards the Gregorian number system of days.

New Year is a holiday beloved by many, which is widely celebrated today in the CIS countries and around the world. AT Russia it is celebrated on a special scale, and every child knows from childhood: on the night of December 31 to January 1, one must make wishes and expect miracles. But not always the New Year was celebrated on these dates. Peter I ordered to celebrate it on January 1: the emperor signed the corresponding decree 320 years ago - on December 20, 1699. It was then that in Russia they began to decorate houses spruce branches and set off fireworks. But what happened before that? We will tell in our article.

"First Day of the Year"

The first information that the New Year was celebrated in Russia appeared in the 15th century. Then this holiday was called "The first day of the year." Initially, the New Year was associated with the agricultural calendar and the day of the spring equinox. Each year, according to the Julian calendar, began on March 1 and ended on February 28 or - in leap years- 29 February. With the advent of Christianity in Russia, the celebration began to be moved either to Easter or to September 1 - by analogy with Byzantium. In a word, the holiday did not have a clearly established date for a long time.

The Grand Duke of Moscow John III put an end to the New Year's issue. In 1492, he finally decided to consider September 1 as the beginning of the year - in accordance with church calendar. Of course, no fir trees were dressed up then, the traditions were different. On this day, it was ordered to pay tribute, duties and various dues. Also, for many, it was a chance to personally meet the sovereign and ask him for mercy: on the eve of the New Year, the tsar hosted everyone - from boyars to commoners, and everyone could turn to him with a request.

Luxurious celebrations were held in the Kremlin in honor of the New Year. They were called "About the Beginning of a New Summer", "For the Summer" or "The Action of Long-term Health". The main ceremony began at about 9 am on the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin. On a large platform covered with Persian and Turkish carpets, in festive attire, the tsar and the patriarch, accompanied by the clergy, passed. The service began, after which the patriarch addressed the king with a "healthy" speech. After the end of the action, the king went to mass in the Church of the Annunciation.

European New Year

In 1682, power passed into the hands of the young reformer Tsar Peter I, and life in the country began to change dramatically. Peter's transformations also affected the New Year. The emperor hated boring official ceremonies and sought to make Russia a secular state. Eagerly adopting the experience of foreign neighbors, Peter decided to celebrate the holidays in the European manner.

On December 20, 1699, a royal decree was issued, which prescribed to celebrate the New Year as it is done in Europe. The celebration has been moved to January 1st. Peter motivated his decision by the fact that many European Christian countries “according to their summer, they count from the Nativity of Christ on the eighth day later, that is, from January 1, and not from the Creation of the world.” Since by 1700 most European states had already switched to the Gregorian calendar, and Russia still lived according to the Julian calendar, it celebrated the new century 10 days later than its Western neighbors.

By order of Peter I, the Russians began to decorate houses and large passing streets with branches of pine, spruce and juniper in accordance with the samples exhibited in Gostiny Dvor. As a sign of fun, everyone was supposed to congratulate each other on the New Year and the new century. Fireworks and fireworks were staged on Red Square, and Muscovites were ordered to fire muskets and launch rockets near houses. At midnight, the emperor went to Red Square with a torch in his hands and personally launched the first rocket into the sky.

The fun lasted until Christmas Eve and ended on January 6 with a procession to the Jordan. Contrary to a long tradition, the king followed the clergy in festive attire. Instead, the great reformer stood on the banks of the Moskva River in uniform, surrounded by the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, dressed in green caftans and camisoles embroidered with gold and silver. All representatives of the nobility - both men and women - Peter also ordered to dress in European costumes.

Despite the fact that not everyone was satisfied with such a policy of the autocrat, new year traditions in Russia took root quite quickly. This was largely due to the fact that the New Year overlapped with another holiday, beloved in Russia since pagan times - winter Christmas time. Therefore, merry festivities, carols, tricks of mummers, sleigh rides, fortune-telling and round dances - all this fit perfectly into the ceremony of celebrating the New Year. Since then, this holiday has been firmly entrenched in the Russian calendar and has survived to this day. True, there was a time when the New Year and Christmas were actually banned in Russia, but that's another story.