:: Russia-InfoCentre

7 January — Merry Christmas!

2006 years ago Jesus Christ was born, according to Orthodoxy. In Russia people usually celebrate Orthodox Christmas, which is on January 7 unlike Catholic Christmas, which is on December 25.

In Russia it is more of a religious holiday than regular national holiday. This is partly due to the fact that Ded Moroz (Father Frost) with all the presents come on New Year, and all the celebrations actually happen on the New Year too, so there is not much left for Christmas, except for church services.

There were no gods in the USSR, and no religion too, and people didn’t celebrate Christmas as they do now until very recently. So one can call it a relatively new holiday.

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Dates in History

1995—Mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, lays the foundation stone for Christ the Savior Cathedral, which is being rebuilt.
Initially, the cathedral is built in 1881 to commemorate the deliverance from Napoleon’s invasion in 1812. Funds for construction are collected throughout the country. The cathedral is taken down in 1931. Soviet Government decides to build the Soviet Palace on the site of the destroyed cathedral, but a swimming pool is constructed instead of the planned palace.