New Year

Fireworks on the seaside boulevard!Since the X century, the New Year was celebrated on March 1, in the XV century the New Year was moved to September 1. Peter 1, having cut through a window to Europe, changed the calendar in accordance with the Western European calendar. He abolished the ancient chronology from the creation of the world and set to keep the time from the Nativity of Christ - transferred Russia from the year 7208 to the year 1699. New Year’s Eve was celebrated on January 1, although again 14 days behind the Gregorian calendar.

The new beginning of the year began with great difficulty. January 1 is the end of Christmas Week, by this day everyone was already tired of the traditional revelry and fun.

The main tradition of the New Year - to decorate houses with live Christmas trees and Christmas decorations Peter 1 took over from Protestant Germany and planted harshly, which was very difficult - in Russia spruce was an indispensable attribute of funeral rituals: mourning wreaths are made of spruce branches, lapnik line the road to the cemetery. On New Year's Eve, Peter 1 toured the homes of nearby soapers. The owner of the house, where he did not find a Christmas tree, ordered to beat with batogs.

The next amendment to the calendar was made by the Bolsheviks in 1917. They not only set it up for the European, but also canceled the New Year as unnecessary. Christmas trees were destroyed as a relic. But soon they changed their minds: they needed a countdown of the next year and in 1930 the Kremlin built the largest Christmas tree in the country. Since that time, Russia celebrates two New Years in the new and old style, which surprises the whole world.

The same is true in Azerbaijan. On the night of December 31st to January 1st, the New Year is celebrated not only by Christians, but also by Muslims.