Tucindane

Christmas pigletIn Serbia and Montenegro, two days before Christmas, a holiday is celebrated - "Tucindan" ("Tucin day" or "Fat day").

The holiday is considered Orthodox, but in the rite of the holiday there are pagan elements preserved from the time of St. Sava, the first Archbishop of Serbia. Saint Sava once deliberately preserved folk customs in order to attract more people to the Orthodox faith.

There is a very common belief that children should not be punished on this day, otherwise they will behave very badly throughout the year.

For the festive table, a lamb or pig is slaughtered on this day. And in some places, the main festive dish is turkey or goose.