Lipovan Russians welcome Old New Year in churches

Lipovan Russians and Ukrainians in Tulcea County are celebrating the old New Year or the New Year by the Julian calendar, in churches on Friday mornings, according to tradition, and some accommodation units have hosted the Old Believers and their parties.

For the Lipovan Russian community in Sarichioi commune, the holiday is even more important, in the context of the church celebrating its patron saint, and no believer went to parties on Thursday night to Friday.

"The Lipovan Russians do not party. They go to church.The New Year begins with the feast of St. Basil the Great. Very few people celebrate New Year's Eve. Only on the first day of the new year, after going to church and thanking God for enduring another year in good health, they come home, eat and wait for guests. The houses are open and there are parties going on," Corina Davidov, born in the village of Sarichioi, told AGERPRES.

In the past years, after the religious service, the children took wheat and went to acquaintances to sow, so that the year would be fruitful, but in recent years, the custom has been lost.

The dishes prepared by the housewives for the festive meal on the first day of the new year will be of the most diverse - horseradish cold cuts, sarmale [stuffed cabbage rolls], steak, cozonac [traditional cake].

Some hotels in Tulcea County hosted parties for the Lipovan Russian and Ukrainian communities on Thursday through Friday, a hotel in the municipality hosting the first New Year's Eve party, after the one on the first night of the new year by the new calendar was canceled due to lack of requests.

Tulcea County has the largest Lipovan Russian community in Romania, 16,350 members, according to the National Institute of Statistics quoted on the website of the Lipovan Russian Community in Romania.

Some Ukrainians in the county also celebrate the old New Year, Chilia Veche, Crisan, Sfantu Gheorghe and Caraorman being just a few communities where the elders still keep their customs.