Features

Spiders and their webs are not showed the door on Ukrainian Christmas

Fastidious housewives traditionally shoo spiders and their webbed homes from ceiling corners or ones spun between chair legs, but in Ukraine, these nocturnal insects may discover a welcome mat at the door especially on Christmas day. Spiders and their webs represent good luck for Ukrainians.

Ukrainian Christmas Eve meal is a feast for the senses as well as the tastebuds

Christmas around the world is a celebration of food and generosity, but in Ukraine, the celebration does not come until January 7 according to the ancient Julian calendar. While many Ukrainians in North America and Europe join in the holiday festivities on December 25th, a special religious emphasis is also marked thirteen days later, particularly on January 6th – Ukrainian Christmas Eve.

Jumping in frozen water in Ukraine is more than a dare

International media flock to the Dnipro River in the frozen month of January to witness the hardy and the faithful jump into the frosty waters. Known as winter walruses in some parts of the world, these swimmers are not simply executing a dare made over a shot of vodka. The nineteenth of January marks the end of the Christmas season for Ukrainians following the Julian calendar and commemorates the baptism of Christ by John in the River Jordan. In Ukraine, the date also marks the arrival of Christianity in the ancient Kyivan Russia.

Cossack history tells another artful tale

Pysanky eggs may garner the share of the artistic spotlight around the world when a traveler considers Ukrainian art, but the art of woodcarving can be traced to the heydays of the Cossack state in the 17th and 18th centuries. Indeed, wood sculpture reached a heady climax when talented Cossacks created their own unique artistic style – the Cossack Baroque. Practical, yet ornamental, the work of Cossack and later, Hutsul artisans, incorporated natural imagery of grapevine stems, sunflowers, and roses with figures of saints and angels into furniture, chests, plates and dishes.

Lviv as an International Tourist Destination

Ukraine’s tourist offerings once consisted of mail-order brides and visits to the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Missing the tourism boat that cities like Prague, Krakow, and Budapest hopped on years ago, Ukraine was a country without potential. Oh, what a difference a few years of independence and a rich history makes, however.

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