Christmas in Czech Republic.

Christmas is one of the most beautiful times in the Czech Republic. Its streets are filled with music, colorful and vibrant markets and rich smells that invite you to celebrate the end of the year by eating delicious sweets and taking the chill off with drinks as rich and spicy as mulled wine. When Christmas Eve arrives, and just as the first star appears in the sky, tradition dictates that diners, mostly families, sit around a table, leaving an empty place in case an extra guest arrives unexpectedly.  Other unwritten rules suggest fasting all day until the big dinner arrives; not getting up while eating, since doing so could attract bad luck for the year that is about to begin; and leaving a carp scale on the plate as a symbol of wealth for the coming year. The 25th and 26th of December are also dedicated to family visits, eating the last Christmas pastries and celebrating the approaching New Year's Eve with food, drink and very good company. Although in Spain the holidays are ext

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

Apples:  The apple is cut in half horizontally; if the core of the apple is star-shaped in the two split halves, it means that the person who cut it will enjoy excellent health. If the shape of the core is different, it is recommended to take care of yourself during the following year. There is no need to be afraid of this tradition, just choose healthy apples.

The Advent time begins exactly 4 weeks before Christmas, when people are preparing for the celebrations and when decorations from the streets and shops are transferred to many a household. On the first Sunday of Advent, many people start decorating their homes and baking Christmas cookies, and Christmas or Advent markets appear in the town squares.  The most common tradition of Advent in Czech households is to have an Advent wreath at home. Advent wreaths are not only carve out of wood and paint green, but are also made of conifer twigs. These living wreaths are the symbol of the eternal life promised by Jesus Christ. The round shape of the wreath express the unity of the community of people and God, the flame of the candles remind of Christ, as the light that illuminates each person with its flame of love. Advent calendar is undoubtedly the most beautiful custom of the event. Nowadays it often becomes a tasty treat for children, because it is usually filled with goodies of all kinds.

Vánočka is a traditional Czech bread, typical for Christmas. It is rich in egg and butter, which makes it similar to brioche. Lemon peel and nutmeg add color and flavor, with the dough also containing raisins and almonds, which is braided like a jallah. The vánočka can be made from three increasingly smaller braids, which is sometimes interpreted as a crude sculpture of the Christ Child wrapped in a cloak and lying in a manger. The vánočka is the most traditional sweet. It has a long history in Czechia and Slovakia and has become a true symbol of Christmas in these countries. Preparing vanočka is not particularly easy, so you have a variety of customs to make sure everything goes smoothly. One such custom is to wear a white apron while jumping up and down as the dough is rising, and it is best to be silent during this process. It is also said that when making vánočka, you should think of someone dear to you.  Another tradition is to bake it with a coin inside. It is believed that whoev

The Czech Republic and Prague specifically have their own very special Christmas menu, and you can't feel the true spirit of Christmas without tasting some of these traditional dishes. When families gather around the vacation table, first comes the soup, typically with fish or cabbage. This soup is prepared from the meat and heads of carp, root vegetables, water and spices. The most important courses are usually carp and golden pork, which is usually fried, baked and served in a very special way. There used to be several ways of preparing carp - "to the blue" (boiled with diluted vinegar or white wine with root vegetables) or "to the black" (in a sweet sauce of jam and honey bread); but fried carp is the most popular. It is believed that both bring good luck and good fortune in the New Year.  According to the superstitions here you should not leave the table before everyone finishes eating. Why? To keep the family together. A fish scale under your plate does not

The feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6. It is connected with the tradition of giving, especially to children, small gifts, sweets and fruit. The tradition of Sv. Mikuláš's journey accompanied by his advisors - a devil, who knows about all the mischief of children, and an angel, who knows about all the good deeds - dates back to the Middle Ages. Arriving at each of the houses, Sv. Mikuláš asks the children how they behaved during the year. Depending on the answer and the advice of his assistants, he decides what gift the child will receive. Some for the great number of mischiefs committed during the year receive a stone, a coal, a branch or some other object from the devil's bag. To the children who behaved very well, Sv. Mikuláš asks them to sing him a song or recite a poem and, finally, they too receive their prize and are warned to behave well next year and that the devil will not hear about their mischief. In the Old Town Square in Prague there is a traditiona

The official language of the Czech Republic is Czech. It is spoken by approx. 10.6 million people. Czech falls within the West Slavic language group and therefore is similar to Polish, as well as Russian and Croatian. The Czech ranks among the most complicated languages in the world. Tourists will usually make themselves understood in English and quite often also in German or Russian. The deaf are advised to use, if possible, Italian or Austrian sign language, since these are closest to Czech sign language. Some curious things about this language are that they can pronounce wo rds containing no vowels at all. And surprisingly, they use them quite often. For example, “prst” means “finger”, čtvrt is “quarter“ and krk means “neck”. Although the Czech Republic is a relatively small country, there are several considerably different dialects. So you may quite easily witness a situation when two confused Czechs will not understand what people from around Olomouc are saying to them. A typical

The houses of Czech Republic are usually quite decorated,they have their traditional manger made of various materials, their Christmas trees whose manufacture is traditionally handmade among other decorations. The Krkonose region in northern Bohemia is where glass Christmas decorations are created. This region began to manufacture them since the nineteenth century and started all purely handmade. Blown glass Christmas decorations are purely traditional in the Czech Republic, these are onion-shaped figures. Christmas trees are decorated with blown glass beads, which can be inherited by different generations. Each type of decoration can be created by a different company since most of them are handmade, that is, handmade, both its elaboration and painting its design, that is why they are so important for this country. These Christmas decorations made of blown glass can be in the form of balloons, stars, bells, houses, the figure of a person or an animal, plus all its design and processing

In the Czech Republic there is a tradition of putting up nativity scenes for about a hundred years, these nativity scenes are placed before the beginning of the Advent season. These manger originally served to show the birth of Jesus; at the beginning we only see the mangers in churches but over the years, now is possible to see them in  the houses of every Czech person. Also in the Czech Republic this tradition is so important that there are even important churches where we can go to observe the mangers, these churches are "The Basilica of St. Paul" at Vyšhard, and "The church of our Lady of Victory" at Malá Strana, in this church there is a museus where the mangers are exhibited throughout the year. We can be observed that for the Czechs the nativity scenes are a fundamental part of their traditions, since they have many museums that exhibir these mangers througout the yearm they also put them in open air museums, the most recognized museums to see these mangers a