YEREVAN-TOURINFO-Johnny Africa a dual Canadian-American blogger, who travels the world and been over 50 countries, wrote an article for the best winter holiday destination for 2020, mentioning Armenia as namely hospitable, in the first suggested place for tourists to visit during winter season.
Winter holidays in Armenia
Armenians are used to celebrating holidays with family. And as a hospitable nation, not a single holiday is complete without a rich festive table.
New Years
The New Year is the most beloved holiday of Armenians. The whole family gets prepared to the holiday in all seriousness. The main attribute of the holiday is the New Year’s table. It should be rich and full of tasty treats. Armenians believe that the richer the New Year’s table, the more successful the coming year will be.
As it is the most beloved family holiday, all the relatives gather at the New Year’s table and right after midnight, everyone starts visiting their neighbors and relatives. According to the tradition, on New Year’s Eve all you should forgive all the bad things and leave them behind.
In Yerevan, the New Year holidays mean beautifully decorated streets, a lot of festive lights and, of course, the main Christmas tree on Republic Square.
Christmas
The Armenian Apostolic or Gregorian Church celebrates Christmas on the night of January 5th to 6th. The baptism of the Lord is also celebrated on January 6th. Christmas Eve is called Chragaluits. On this day, Christians carry the sacred fire from the churches and light candles in their homes. In the morning the main liturgy takes place in churches and ends with the consecration of water.
For Armenians, Christmas is a family holiday. By tradition, the elder hosts the family in his house and everyone should be present as a sign of respect. The table should be as rich as a symbol of prosperity.
Saint Sarkis, the Holiday of Lovers
St. Sarkis Day, the feast of lovers in Armenian, is celebrated in the first half of February. The patron of all lovers was a commander under the emperor Constantine the Great. A legend is associated with his name. According to legend the commander and his 39 soldiers were celebrating the victory in the royal palace. As soon as forty warriors fell asleep, the king ordered 40 women to kill the soldiers. 39 soldiers were killed, and only one girl refused to kill the commander as soon as she saw his beautiful face. Waking up from a kiss, Sarkis saddled his horse and sped away with the girl.
According to the tradition, on the night before the holiday, the young boys and girls eat a very salty “Aghablit” pancake and fall asleep. The one who will give a glass of water in a dream is the future beloved. On this day, a festive liturgy is held at Saint Sarkis Church in Yerevan and the whole city breathes love.
Trndez
Trndez is a church holiday celebrated on February 13. After the adoption of Christianity Armenians continued celebrating favorite holidays and traditions that were changed into the Christian holidays. One of such rituals is Trndez. The feast in honor of the Presentation of the Lord was originally a pagan holiday Derendez, the holiday of the awakening of nature.
The main participants of the holiday are young boys, girls, and newlyweds. The symbol of Trndez is a fire in the yard. Boys and girls hold hands and lead a dance around the fire. After that, couples jump over the fire. According to tradition, the couple who will be able to jump over the fire will have happiness that year. And the newlyweds who jumped over the fire will have a strong family. In the end, the ashes from the fire are scattered across the field to have a fertile land.
Source : https://johnnyafrica.com/winter-holidays-2020-in-the-south-caucasus/
