New Year and Christmas in Romania. New Year and Christmas in Romania How New Year is celebrated in Romania

Romanians have a rich tradition of celebrating the New Year.

New Year in Romania (rum. Anul Nou, Anul Nou) is a public holiday celebrated by Romanians on the night of December 31 to January 1.

Despite the fact that Romania is an Orthodox country, Christmas here precedes the New Year and is celebrated on the night of December 24-25. Christmas traditions in the country are closely intertwined with New Year's. The New Year itself in Romania is therefore often referred to as Little Christmas (Craciunul mic).

The Romanian Santa Claus is called Mosh Krachun. According to legend, the family of the shepherd Krachun sheltered the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary gave birth, and Mosh Krechun gave her and the child milk and cheese. Since then, Saint Mosh Krachun has been giving gifts to children.

According to the tradition of meeting the New Year in Romania, the celebration takes place with family or close friends at the New Year's table. Young people prefer big noisy companies and hangouts in the city center.

On New Year's morning, Romanian children from 3 to 12 years old carol around neighboring houses with branches of apple or pear trees, as symbols of fertility, decorate them with multi-colored paper, sparkles, gilding and artificial flowers. These branches are usually cut on November 30 (St. Andrew's Day), germinated in a glass of water, and kept fresh until the New Year.

Children knock on houses, sing kolindas and wish the owners happiness and long years. In this case, a branch must be touched to each member of the family. Children do the same with all passers-by. For this, it is customary for them to give apples, sweets, and small money.

According to Romanian beliefs, on New Year's Eve, the heavens open, so you can make any wish.

Among the traditional folk holidays, the most interesting is the Romanian rite "Plugoshor", which is aimed at attracting a good harvest in the New Year. On January 1, plow boys walk around the neighboring yards and sing about the upcoming agricultural work, as spring comes quite early in Romania.

Girls on New Year's Eve in Romania guess. They especially like to guess at the betrothed, as well as the weather next year. In the latter case, the bulb is divided into twelve slices according to the number of months in a year. Then slices-months are sprinkled with salt and left overnight. In the morning, they look at which of them are wet and which are dry. So they judge which of the months in the New Year will be dry, and which will be rainy.

On the first day of the New Year in Romania, it is traditional not to throw anything out of the house, so as not to throw away good luck for the whole year. Also, on the first day of the year, Romanians do not leave their home until a brunette or a brown-haired man enters it (according to tradition, dark-haired people bring good luck and happiness, and redheads and blondes, on the contrary). Also, according to tradition, the New Year should be celebrated with noise, as loud sounds drive away evil spirits.

Romanians during the celebration of the New Year do not swear and do not get angry. This is, to put it mildly, "forbidden".

The favorite treat there is pies “with a surprise” inside. If a spruce twig falls on a tooth - expect happiness, if the ring - to a new love. A coin promises wealth and prosperity, well, a nut - health.

In recent years, it has significantly “pulled itself up” in terms of developing its own economy. The renewing tourist infrastructure also plays a significant role in this. Every year, thousands of foreign guests come to and on the Black Sea coast, who do not forget to look at the homeland of Count Dracula, notorious all over the world. But the country of Romania is beautiful not only in summer, and New Year or Christmas can be celebrated here with no less pleasure than the famous Martisor in early spring.

Let's take a look at the map

Romania is located in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is washed by the waters of the Black Sea, and from between the borders with and the Carpathians stretch.
The climate of Romania is classified as a continental type, which is characterized by rather warm weather in summer and cold weather from December to February:

• In winter, the thermometers in the country's capital can drop to -16°C, but more often they stop at -5°C. In the mountains, frosts occur more often and temperatures of -10°C at the height of the New Year holidays are more likely to be the norm for Carpathian villages.
• Snow in the mountains falls already in November and remains stable until early April, allowing visitors to ski slopes comfortably and with pleasure. In the capital, the snow cover is usually unstable and melts quickly due to not too low temperatures and a large number of sunny days.
• In the east of Romania on the Black Sea coast, the climate type changes from continental to maritime. Here in winter it rains more often with sleet, the humidity in December-February is quite high, which, combined with an air temperature of about 0 - + 6 ° C and strong winds, creates a not very comfortable microclimate.

It is best to celebrate the New Year in Romania in the Carpathians, where the ski slopes are covered with perfect white snow, and the staff of cozy hotels and restaurants with national cuisine will help create a festive mood and spend the winter holidays cheerfully, brightly and with pleasure.

How to celebrate the New Year in Romania

The world-favorite holiday in Romania has its own name. Anul Nou is celebrated in the circle of loved ones, usually in the house of parents or older family members.
Preparations for the holiday begin with traditional Romanian fortune-telling. In addition to trying to find out the fate and name of the future husband, Romanian girls try to predict the weather. For this purpose, salt is suitable, which is sprinkled with a dozen peeled onion slices. The parts of the bulb that remain dry in the morning symbolize months without rain, while wet ones predict a rainy season.
Romanians do not forget about one more New Year's tradition. On the first day of the coming year, in no case should you throw anything away, so as not to be left without luck. Garbage is stored at least until the second of January, and the locals themselves do not leave the house until a stranger, preferably a brunette, crosses the threshold. Dark-haired, according to local signs, bring good luck. It is not very clear who can enter, if it is customary to stay at home and wait for guests, and therefore Romanians are counting on tourists who do not know the local customs too well. So on New Year's Eve and on the first day of the new year, owners of dark hair can become welcome guests in any home in Romania.
Housewives are preparing especially carefully for the holiday, for whom the New Year's table becomes an exam for professionalism. Smoked ribs and cabbage rolls, meat rolls and pies will certainly appear on the menu of any family. Baking with surprises is another Christmas and New Year tradition in Romania. Coins, rings, peppers and sweets are put into pies, and the lucky one who got a piece with an investment is thus predicting the future.
Santa Claus in Romania is especially revered and respected. His name is Mosh Krechun, and the locals believe that it was he who offered shelter to the Virgin Mary, who is awaiting the birth of the Savior. Now the Romanian Grandfather gives sweets and toys to children, as he once gave milk and cheese to the Mother of God.
A New Year's sign of Romanian cities and villages is Christmas fairs, which begin work long before the most fun night of the year. They usually open in the main city square and offer visitors sweets and candles, decorations for Christmas trees and the trees themselves, which are considered in Romania, as elsewhere in the world, a symbol of winter holidays.
New Year's Eve usually continues in city squares, where festive fireworks, folk festivals and theatrical performances are held. Young people prefer nightclubs and discos, bars and other drinking establishments, of which there are a great many in Bucharest. In honor of the holiday, discounts, bonuses and a special menu with interesting dishes, drinks and numbers of the show program appear in any of them.

Useful information for travelers

• The easiest way to get to Romania and back is a direct flight on Aeroflot planes. But it is also the most expensive. For three hours in the sky you have to pay 260 euros. The planes fly from Sheremetyevo.
• A flight on the wings of the Polish airline LOT Polish Airlines will cost less. With docking, the journey will take about five hours. Issue price - 220 euros round trip. At this price, tickets are also offered by Moldovan airlines. In this case, a transplant is to be done at.

Ski resorts are ready to receive guests at the end of November, when a stable snow cover appears on the slopes. Modern equipment maintains it throughout the season, even if the weather suddenly changes in the direction of abnormal warming.

The best resorts in Romania, where it is especially pleasant to celebrate the New Year, doing your favorite sport, are located in the Southern Carpathians. These mountains are here called the Transylvanian Alps. Popular holiday destinations are Busteni, known since the end of the 19th century and the most famous of all Poiana Brasov. The weather during the New Year holidays in ski resorts usually pleases with sunshine and comfortable temperatures. At night, thermometers show up to -5 ° C, and during the day the mercury columns usually stay at + 1 ° C in Poiana Brasov, + 2 ° C in Bushten and Sinai and -2 ° C - on the Predeal slopes.
On the slopes of the Romanian Carpathians you will find slopes of various categories of difficulty, and the prices for ski passes, equipment rental and off-piste entertainment will seem like a real gift in honor of the New Year.

In some places in Romania, the New Year is called "Little Christmas" (Craciunul mic) or "The Craciun Brothers" (Fratele Craciunului). New Year's Eve is especially solemn - the evening at St. Vasily. As soon as the sun went down, in every house in front of the icon of Christ they lit a candle made of pure wax, which was supposed to burn all night, "so that happiness could enter the house." Doors and thresholds in the house, in the premises for livestock, in grain storages were coated with garlic and various kinds of melted fat. With the same composition, they put the sign of the cross on domestic animals and, finally, smeared themselves and all family members. According to popular beliefs, in this way it was possible to save oneself from the machinations of the devil and strigoi, who roam near the house that night and try to milk cows or cause some kind of damage to a person.

But not only an evil force roams this night. It was believed that the heavens opened up and people could see God surrounded by saints. However, this was not given to everyone - only to people of a strict and righteous life. According to Romanian beliefs, the skies opened up not only on New Year's Eve, but also on Christmas Eve, Epiphany and Easter. People believed that all this happens very quickly and the one who saw it could ask God for everything he wants. The Romanians thought that cattle could also talk on New Year's Eve, but in order to avoid misfortune, it was impossible to eavesdrop on it.

This evening, like Christmas Eve, was rich in all kinds of carols (colinda). The guys went from house to house, singing them, saying congratulations and wishes. All this was accompanied by the slapping of a whip and a cheerful noise. Not a single house was let by the collectors. The time of the greatest caroling was Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, a large number of people took part in caroling, regardless of age. On the eve of St. Vasily was caroled a little less, and here carols, especially such as plugushorul (plugu-sorul), were more focused and dedicated to "causing fertility" of the earth. But nevertheless, between caroling on Christmas Eve and on the eve of St. Basil, no significant differences were observed. As on other holidays, they gathered at home, and the old people told legends about the saints, in which the latter mostly acted as poor shepherds.

One of the most ancient and colorful New Year's customs among the Romanians was plugushorul. It is curious to note that in those areas where it was performed, only the poor and smaller boys took part in caroling, that is, those who were most occupied with plowing as plowmen and drovers. On New Year's Eve, as soon as it gets dark, the guys went from house to house and caroled. The most talkative of them, standing near the house, read the plowman's carol (plowshorul). During caroling, the first furrow was made in the snow. After uttering carols and congratulations to the owners of the house, the latter presented plowuras, as on Christmas: rolls, nuts, apples, money, etc. So they went from house to house until midnight. And then, sharing the gifts in a brotherly way and wishing each other happiness in the new year, they dispersed.

New Year in Romania

New Year in Romania (Anul Nou, Anul Know) is a public holiday celebrated by Romanians in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, coming on the night of December 31 to January 1. Despite the fact that Romania is an Orthodox country, Christmas here precedes the New Year and is celebrated on the night of December 24-25. The Romanian Santa Claus is called Mosh Krachun (Rom. Crăciun- Christmas, see also Korochun). Christmas traditions in the country are closely intertwined with New Year's.

According to Romanian beliefs, on New Year's Eve, the heavens open, so you can make any wish. Among the traditional folk holidays, the most interesting is the Romanian rite “Plugoshor”, dedicated to January 1 and aimed at attracting a good harvest in the New Year. On this day, guys with plows walk around the neighboring yards and sing about the upcoming agricultural work, since spring in Romania comes quite early.

Girls on New Year's Eve in Romania guess. They especially like to guess at the betrothed, as well as the weather next year. In the latter case, the bulb is divided into twelve slices according to the number of months in a year. Then slices-months are sprinkled with salt and left overnight. Utom look at which of them are wet and which are dry. So they judge which of the months in the New Year will be dry, and which will be wet.

Notes

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See what "New Year in Romania" is in other dictionaries:

old New Year- The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year is connected with the divergence of two calendars: the Julian calendar of the old style and the Gregorian calendar of the new style, according to which modern people live. This discrepancy in the XX XXI centuries is 13 days, and the New ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

Old New Year - the history and traditions of the holiday- On the night of January 13-14, some countries unofficially celebrate the Old New Year. The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year is associated with the divergence of two calendars: the old-style Julian calendar and the new-style Gregorian calendar. It… … Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

Where did the old new year come from. Calendar confusion- The modern calendar originates from the ancient Roman Julian calendar, which was introduced on January 1, 45 BC. e. as a result of the reform carried out in 46 BC. e. Julius Caesar. In the Julian calendar, every four consecutive years... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers