Koliada

Common card · No. 397544

Koliada or koleda (Cyrillic: каляда, коляда, коледа, колада, коледе) is the traditional Slavic name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, for Christmas-related rituals, some dating to pre-Christian times. It represents a festival or holiday, celebrated at the end of December to honor the sun during the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice, and is practiced in East Europe. It also involves groups of singers, koledari, who visit houses to sing carols. One theory states that Koliada is the name of a cycle of winter rituals stemming from the ancient calendae as for example the Kalenda Proclamation.

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