In Russia, as well as in a number of countries of the Near Abroad, there is a holiday with a strange name - Old New Year. It is generally accepted that it is he who ends the series of Christmas and New Year's days, many of which are days off.
Where did such a triumph come from, and why does it have such a strange name? Since when did such a mixed holiday date appear? Why is it customary to celebrate the 13th day of the coming year? To understand the details, you need to consider the history of the calendar - it will help you find the answers.
Old New Year: holiday story
Old New Year is a kind of additional holiday, a nice addition to the usual New Year's celebrations. It exists in Russia - in Europe there is no such day, and even its name itself introduces foreigners into complete bewilderment. How can this new be old at the same time? But it turns out that everything can be in Russia. This holiday did not appear at all by chance and not at all in order to lead people into bewilderment. Two New Year’s Eve, “new” and “old”, appeared due to the transition to the Gregorian version of the reckoning, and both took root - people did not refuse either one or the second.
New Year at different times
With calendars, the situation has changed, and more than once. The Church at first counted the dates from Creation, believing that God created the earth on March 1, 5508 BC. Then came the belief that the world was created on September 1, 5509 BC.AD, and the countdown of days was changed again, the New Year was celebrated in September.
In paganism, everything was completely different - the New Year fell on the vernal equinox, which, as you know, is observed on March 22 - the day grew longer than night, added faster and faster, marking the imminent beginning of summer, people celebrated the coming of light to the earth. But Christianity gradually left its mark, the old spring holiday remained in the form of Shrovetide, which is still customary to celebrate with festivities. For a long time, the New Year holidays were celebrated at different times, then in the fall, as Christianity demanded, then in the spring, in pagan style. A single order was established in 1492, since then a certain stability has been established since the holiday.
When was the New Year's Day celebrated for the first time in winter?
So it was before the reign of Peter the Great, who made a lot of reforms, bringing Russia closer to European traditions. It was he who wrote the decree on the need to celebrate the New Year in winter, calculating the days of January 1 according to the old style, which remained in use for those times (according to the new style, this will be January 14). At that time it was the 1700th year, the first of those that the country lived according to the Julian calendar.
Why is the Old New Year celebrated on January 13?
The Julian calendar was very convenient and lasted until the 20th century. But at this point, most European countries moved to the Gregorian calendar, the difference with which was 13 days, which was inconvenient in conducting international affairs. There was a need to switch to the same Gregorian calendar, the task was accomplished in 1918, according to a decree of the Council of People's Commissars.The new style of reckoning turned out to be practical and useful, however, the existing difference of 13 days gave peculiar duplicates to each of the holidays. And the duplicate of the New Year took root - it is celebrated in Gregorian and in the old style, with a corresponding difference of 13 days.
Where else celebrate the old New Year?
The Old New Year is celebrated not only in Russia, but also in a number of other countries - primarily in the CIS. In Europe, Switzerland marks it, also in this number is Serbia, Romania and a number of other countries. Oddly enough, they celebrate the old version of the holiday in Tunisia, Morocco and other countries that used the Berber calendar - not much different from the Julian one. But here the date falls on the 11th of the first month of the year.
The old version of the new holiday - today and tomorrow
In recent years, the celebration of the old reckoning has become increasingly popular, people are happy to celebrate it - especially those who were not able to fully celebrate the main celebration of the passing year. Believers also tend to celebrate the old version, because it turns out to be outside the fast and allows you to enjoy meals without restrictions and have fun, which is excluded on the usual eve of the holiday, which falls on the Christmas post. However, the holiday will not exist on the 13th.
No, he will not be banned, he will not go anywhere - he will simply “move” to January 14th. Indeed, due to inaccuracies, the gap between the Julian and Gregorian calendars is growing from year to year, and on March 1, 2100, it will be not 13, but 14 days.Starting next year, from 2101, the Old New Year will be celebrated on January 14, if this tradition continues. And she, apparently, will not go anywhere, because people really like the second New Year holiday.
