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, which suddenly threw the whole country three months ahead - Russians accustomed to the September meeting of the New Year had to celebrate the year 1700 on January 1. SPB. AIF. RU tells how it was.
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 winter sleep - in March, with the first vernal equinox.
During the winter solstice it was preceded by 12-day "Kolyada", from which the tradition of "mummers" has survived to this day to go home and sing songs, scattering grain at the threshold. And today, in many remote corners of Russia and the CIS, it is customary for “mummers” to give pancakes and kutya, and in ancient times these dishes were put on windows to appease the spirits.
Caroling has come down to us from pagan times.
With the adoption of Orthodoxy, the ritual aspect of the New Year's meeting, of course, changed. For a long time, the Orthodox Church did not attach much importance to it, but in 1495 it reached this holiday - it was officially scheduled for September 1. On this day, the Kremlin hosted the ceremonies "On the beginning of a new summer", "On the flight" or "Long-term health action". The celebration was opened by the patriarch and the tsar on the cathedral square of the Moscow Kremlin, their procession was accompanied by bell ringing. 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, since 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 called then differently - "The first day of the year."
Promotional video:
Winter Is Coming
The tradition was preserved for almost 200 years, after which a whirlwind of change by the name of Peter Alekseevich Romanov burst into the life of the Russian people. As you know, the young emperor almost immediately after ascending to the throne began tough reforms aimed at eradicating old traditions. Having traveled around Europe, he was inspired by the Dutch New Years style. In addition, he did not want to walk in embroidered gold vestments on the Cathedral Square at all - he wanted the fun that he saw abroad.
On December 20, 1699 (according to the old chronology, it was 7208), on the threshold of a new century, the emperor issued a decree that read: “… Volokhs, Moldavians, Serbs, Dolmates, Bulgarians, and his greatest sovereign subjects Cherkasy and all Greeks, from whom our Orthodox faith is accepted, all those peoples, according to their summer, reckon from the Nativity of Christ on the eighth day later, that is, January 1, and not from the creation of the world, for many strife and reckoning in those years, and now from the Nativity of Christ comes 1699 year, and the next January, from the 1st, a new 1700 comes, and a new centenary; and for that good and useful deed, he indicated that henceforth the summers should be counted in orders, and in all deeds and fortresses, to write from the current General Day from the 1st of the birth of Christ in 1700”.
Fragment of the decree of Peter I of 1699.
The decree was long and very detailed. It stipulated that everyone should decorate houses with spruce, pine and juniper branches on these days and not remove the decorations until January 7th. Noble and simply wealthy citizens were ordered at midnight to shoot from cannons in the courtyards, 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 fires of wood, brushwood and resin 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's reform it somehow faded into the background. The last time the flight order was performed on September 1, 1699, in the presence of Peter, who sat on the throne in the Kremlin's cathedral square in royal clothes, received a blessing from the Patriarch and congratulated the people on the New Year, as his grandfather had done. After that, the magnificent autumn celebration was over - by the will of Peter, the traditions of enlightened Europe merged with pagan nature, from which rituals of wild fun remained.
For the common people, this was all as incomprehensible as in its time for the boyars - the need to shave their beards and dress in the Western manner. The commotion that happened at first was described by Alexei Tolstoy in the historical novel "Peter I":
“We haven't heard such a ringing in Moscow for a long time. They said: Patriarch Adrian, in no way daring to contradict the tsar, let the sextons ring a thousand rubles and fifty barrels of strong patriarchal watering. The bells on the belfries and bell towers were squatting. Moscow was shrouded in smoke, steam from horses and people … Shots rang out through the bell ringing throughout Moscow, cannons barked in a bass. Dozens of sledges rushed at gallop, full of drunken and mummers, smeared with soot, in their fur coats turned upside down. They kicked up their legs, waving their shtoffs, yelled, raged, on the rolls they fell out in a heap under the feet of the common people, stupefied by the sound 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 down like locusts,- not so much ate as scattered, shouted spiritual songs, urinated under the tables. They got the owners drunk to amazement and - let's move on. In order not to come together from different places the next day, we spent the night side by side right there, in someone’s yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to stick their heads out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, he whispered to the tsar to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of 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 the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "how many scattered, shouted spiritual songs, urinated under tables. They got the owners drunk to amazement and - let's move on. In order not to come together from different places the next day, we spent the night side by side right there, in someone’s yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in melancholy, they were afraid to stick out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "how many scattered, shouted spiritual songs, urinated under tables. They got the owners drunk to amazement and - let's move on. In order not to come together from different places the next day, we spent the night side by side right there, in someone’s yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in melancholy, they were afraid to stick out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "shouting spiritual songs, urinating under tables. They got the owners drunk to amazement and - let's move on. In order not to come together from different places the next day, we spent the night side by side right there, in someone’s yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to stick their heads out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "shouting spiritual songs, urinating under tables. They got the owners drunk to amazement and - let's move on. In order not to come together from different places the next day, we spent the night side by side right there, in someone’s yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to stick their heads out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "They got the owners drunk to amazement and - let's move on. In order not to come together from different places the next day, we spent the night side by side right there, in someone’s yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to stick their heads out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "They got the owners drunk to amazement and - let's move on. In order not to come together from different places the next day, we spent the night side by side right there, in someone’s yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to stick their heads out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "spent the night side by side right there, in someone's yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to stick their heads out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, he whispered to the tsar to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of 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 the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "spent the night side by side right there, in someone's yard. Moscow was bypassed with gaiety from end to end, congratulated on the advent of the new year and the centenary. The people of Posad, quiet and God-fearing, lived these days in anguish, they were afraid to stick their heads out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, he whispered to the tsar to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of 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 the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "lived those days in anguish, afraid to stick out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "lived those days in anguish, afraid to stick out of the yard. It was not clear - why such fury? Damn it, or something, he whispered to the king to stir up the people, to break the old custom - the backbone, what they lived with … Although they lived closely, but honestly, they took care of a penny, they knew that this was so, but it was not so. Everything turned out to be bad, everything was not according to him. Those who did not recognize the roof and the pinch gathered underground for all-night vigils. Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would sound … "Again they whispered that they would only live to see the butter dish: from Saturday to Sunday the trumpet of the Last Judgment would 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 vestments, but stood on the banks of the Moskva River in uniform, surrounded by the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, dressed in green caftans and camisoles with gold buttons and braids.
Boyars and servants also did not escape the imperial attention - they were obliged to put on Hungarian caftans and put on their wives in foreign dresses. For everyone, it was a real torment - the established order was crumbling for centuries, and the new rules looked uncomfortable and frightening.
This way of celebrating the New Year was repeated every winter, and gradually New Year trees, and midnight cannon volleys, and masquerades took root.
Elena Lyashenko
