Artist: Vera Pavlova Volume: 144 Format: 232x300 Binding type: Hardcover Print run: 5000 ISBN: 9785926842088 Publisher: Rech Popular science publication
The calendar of Russian holidays has taken a peculiar shape: Christian traditions are interspersed with pagan ones, tied to the annual natural cycle. The book guides the reader from the beginning of the year to its end, stopping at each holiday and describing the rituals that marked the arrival of spring, sowing, and the harvest. How young women in old Russia foretold the future; why villagers swung on swings and slid down hills; who were the mummers and sorcerers; what were the customs of godparenting, the meat-eating holiday, the “scary evenings,” and “chicken’s name day”... Vera Pavlova’s enchanting illustrations create a poetic world inhabited by ordinary people as well as Russian saints, angels, and seraphim. Birds fly across the pages, snails crawl, and cats, lambs, and hares frolic. The book explains surviving traditions and interprets the echoes of bygone times, building a bridge between the past and the present. It is suitable for family reading and will be useful to anyone interested in the history of the Russian people.
