Christmas in Czech Republic.

St. Nicholas Day, which takes place on December 6, marks the beginning of Christmas baking for many Czechs. All the traditional recipes for easy-to-bake, labor-intensive cookies and sweets, known as vánoční cukrovi vah-NAWTCH-nee tsoo-KRAW-vee, emerge. This is an all-inclusive list that can consist of cookies, delicate cakes, candies and more. Czech Christmas Cookie "Susenky Vanocni Cukrovi": This basic recipe can be transformed into different cookies by varying the shape and sandwiching together with jam or cookie filling, decorating with different colored icings, sprinkling with powdered sugar or leaving it plain. Parisian rolled cookies "Parizske Pecivo": This recipe for Czech Parisian cookies or parizske pecivo are better known as rolled wafer cookies or pirouettes. They are usually served as is, but can be filled with sweetened whipped cream, if desired. "Medvedi Tlapicky" bear paw cookie: Bear paw cookies can be rolled in vanilla sugar or confectione

In the Czech Republic, when Christmas Day arrives, a curious rite is carried out by some unmarried girls and that comes from an old popular superstition that has been performed for a very long time. Although this ceremony is originally and very common in the Czech Republic, we can also find that it is performed in other places that belonged, along with this Central European country, to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It consists of standing with her back to the front door of the place where she resides, taking off a shoe and throwing it over her shoulder without looking back. Then the young woman must turn around and check how it has fallen. If the toe of the shoe is facing the door, it means that within the next year she will be married. If, on the other hand, the shoe falls upside down or with the toe pointing the other way, this augurs one more year of bachelorhood. Another rite performed by young women in the Czech Republic (in this case it makes no difference whether they are single

"The Drummer Boy" tells the apocryphal story of a boy so poor that, unable to offer anything to Baby Jesus, he gives him the gift of his drumming) is a traditional Christmas carol of Czech origin, freely translated into English in 1941 by Katherine Davis, who used in the United States the pseudonym C.R.W. Robison; although the  joint authorship of the music and lyrics of the final English arrangement are attributed to Henry Onorati ("Carol of de Drum", 1957) and Harry Simeone ("The little Drummer boy", 1958). From 1950 it began to be interpreted by different authors, such as José Feliciano, who sang it in 1995 for the program 'Christmas at the Vatican' which is broadcast in Rome and is a special that was prepared for Pope John Paul II. In Spain, the Christmas carol is a classic in Raphael's musical career. After being translated into English this Christmas carol became popular in many regions and is a very traditional Christmas carol. Its origi

In Czech, Christmas carol is "koleda". Although this word is now mainly used to refer to a Christmas-themed song, originally the magical meaning of the words and the good wishes of a group of people singing or reciting in the houses was more important. The etymology itself serves as a guide to better understand this phenomenon. First of all, the etymology comes from the Latin kalendae, which in the Roman calendar was the first day of each month, and in addition, January 1st was celebrated as the janual festivities, which is an important detail. Something that is also remarkable is that this word was taken mainly by the Slavic peoples, but the Germans, French and English did not take this word with the same meaning. This is due to the agrarian and rustic culture of the Slavs. If we focus on the practical meaning of the word, it has three main meanings: "tour", because the participants go through the houses singing; "gift", because after singing in front of

The tradition of the Christmas tree in the Czech Republic came to their homes in the 19th century. Although tree decoration at that time was based on ancient pagan traditions, the tree as a symbol of Christmas came into Czech homes only for wealthy bourgeois families. The tradition of tree decoration as it is known today comes from Livonia (Estonia, Latvia) and Germany. Today it is also customary to place large Christmas trees in the squares of most of their cities. The first Christmas tree was planted in the Czech Republic in 1924, in the square of Námêstí Svobody. Gifts were left underneath the tree. Nowadays the tradition of the Christmas tree is considered a Christian custom, but this wasn't the case before. The Christmas tree carries with it the tradition that the one who has a decorated tree does not expect anything bad and will protect it from evil forces. The branches of conifers are symbols of eternal life. In earlier times trees were used for pagan celebrations by Celts a

The first event of Advent was the divination on the feast of St. Andrew, at November 30. Bits of lead were cast and single girls would go out at midnight to shake on fences to see if anyone would come out. They would listen for steps in the direction where their grooms should arrive. Cutting off cherry branches is a tradition in the Czech Republic and is based on a pre-Christian tradition. On the feast of St. Barbara, December 4, cut a cherry branch from a cherry or sour cherry tree. Take it home where the temperature is nice and warm, put it in a vase with water and care for it just as you would for any other cut flower. If the branch blooms for you by Christmas Eve on December 24, all your wishes will come true the following year. The blossoming branches symbolised the sun's victory over winter since they bloomed around the winter solstice. Today, it is just a sweet and fragrant tradition. On December 7, the feast of St. Ambrose, a tradition was respected at the point where the c