The tradition of Christmas celebration in Slovenia
Christmas in Slovenia is a lovely holiday spent with family and friends. Usually on Christmas Eve the family gathers for the Christmas dinner, and people of faith go to the midnight mass. The following morning comes the Christmas breakfast and the opening of presents. The holiday came to Slovenia from the Germanic tradition, and in time this gave rise to customs and habits that today are known only in Slovenia.
CHRISTMAS TREES AND LIVE NATIVITY SCENES
Christmas in Slovenia is a lovely holiday spent with family and friends. Usually on Christmas Eve the family gathers for the Christmas dinner, and people of faith go to the midnight mass. The following morning comes the Christmas breakfast and the opening of presents. The holiday came to Slovenia from the Germanic tradition, and in time this gave rise to customs and habits that today are known only in Slovenia.
Christmas originated from the time of paganism. At that time people marked the farewell of the sun and celebrated its rebirth. Christmas was first celebrated as a Christian festival in the 4th century, when the Catholic Church determined 25 December as the day of Christ’s birth.
The celebration of Christmas as practiced today in Slovenia is a more recent custom that entered Slovenian culture from the Germanic lands. In the past it was common in Slovenia for people to decorate rooms for the Christmas season, with ornaments made of evergreen plants and fruits of nature: beans strung on a thread, with ears of wheat and similar amongst the ornaments. The decorations portrayed people’s joy at the rich harvest of the preceding year, and at the same time the hope that the coming year would also be fruitful. Events peaked on Christmas Eve when the entire space was completely decorated. In the years following the Second World War, Christmas was celebrated in Slovenia hidden from public view, and after the war the holiday season shifted from being an intimate occasion to a celebrated public event. At this time in rural areas too, the custom evolved of setting up and decorating trees in the way we know it today. Before then this custom was only practiced in towns and cities. Decorate your tree the way we do it in Slovenia, with coloured ornaments, fairy lights and coloured wreaths. Some Slovenians decorate their trees all in one colour, while others dress theirs in the most colourful decorations and lights.
A more recent practice is also the setting up of Nativity scenes or cribs, which developed in Slovenia in the 19th century. Slovenia boasts a rich tradition of Nativity scenes marked by a wealth of creativity. Under your tree you can set up a Nativity scene made of straw, porcelain or modelling clay. A very special experience is offered by live Nativity scenes, which you can visit in the festive December season at Postojna Cave and Mojstrana near Kranjska Gora. This year will mark the 25th year in succession that Postojna Cave stages a live Nativity scene. Slovenia’s first and biggest live installation is staged in the wonderful dripstone chambers of Slovenia’s underground caverns and can be viewed while strolling through Postojna Cave.
The most recent Christmas custom is sending Christmas cards and giving presents. Slovenians send each other warm greetings by mail before Christmas, and on the holiday itself they like to share an embrace and a personal greeting. Many people exchange gifts on Christmas morning and surprise their loved ones with presents.
We wish you lovely Christmas and New Year celebration, now it is the perfect time to plan it in SLOVEnia!
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