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TRADITION
Celebrating Christmas has been a prominent festivity among Croats dating
back to the ninth century when
Croats accepted Christianity. Due to different geographical and historical
influences varying Christmas customs have developed over the centuries, such
as variations in carols, sayings, dishes, and decorations. When travelling
through Croatia at Christmas time, you will hear different carols and be
offered a wide variety of foods, but all Croats will wish you a Merry
Christmas in the same way— 'Sretan Bozic'.
On St. Lucy's Day (December 13), the mother of
the family plants wheat grains in a round dish or plate and are left to
germinate. By Christmas Eve the sprouted grains are around 8 inches tall
and are tied in a red, white and blue ribbon which represents the Croatian trobojnic. On the 6th of January a feast is held for the Three Kings. The
Croatians believe that the braking of bread is a symbol of Eucharist. The
children of Croatia don't receive presents from Santa Clause as we do, but
receive gifts from different Saints depending on where they live, for
example if you live northern and central Croatia you traditionally receive
gifts from St. Nicholas and if you live in southern and north-eastern
Croatia you traditionally receive gifts from St. Lucy.
RELIGION
For the Croats,
Christmas is a time of Spiritual Celebration not as a time of giving
relatives and friends gifts. During the time of Christmas, the Croats
celebrate by having many feasts to celebrate and remember the history of
the Croatian Christmas. The Croatian people have great respect for their
beliefs and traditions, which makes their religion so important to them.
As a custom in most Catholic countries most people don’t eat meat on
Christmas Eve but instead eat fish and other unrelated meat products.
FOODS
On the night of Christmas
and other such feasts, the Croatians indulge food such as stuffed cabbage,
sarma, turkey with zagorje noodles, purica, smlincima, suckling pig,
odojark, Dalmatian pot roast, pasticada, walnut roll, orahnjaca, poppy
seed roll, makovnjaca, fritters, fresh bread or badnji kruh. When all the
main courses have been finished off, they sit down for their dessert that
varies from many things; however, the most common is the fig cake. On
Christmas Eve Croatian people cook up dishes such as:
Cod fish – Bianco
and biudetto
Bakalar- Bijeli I Biudet
Smelts and salted
sardines
Girice I salane srdele
And on the night of
Christmas they cook meals like:
Stuffed cabbage
Sarma
Turkey with zagorje
noodles
PRESENTS
Although gifts are given on Christmas day, this is not the main
gift-giving day for Croats, who view Christmas day more as a holy day of
spiritual celebration. Children in Croatia receive gifts from saints,
depending upon where they live. In southern and north eastern Croatia, St.
Lucy traditionally brings gifts to children, while in northern and central
Croatia, St. Nicholas brings gifts. The celebration of St. Nicholas Day
(December 6) as the main gift-giving holiday of the Christmas season stems
from the European Catholic church. In North America and Western Europe,
the Evangelical church transferred this tradition to Christmas day,
transforming St. Nicholas into Santa Claus. Although Croatia has
also adopted the tradition of giving gifts on Christmas day, these gifts
are said to be brought by
the baby Jesus. According to Croatian tradition, on the eve of St.
Nicholas Day, children polish a pair of boots and place them on a window
sill for Saint Nicholas to fill; however, what they are filled with
depends on how well behaved the child has
been. Children are reminded that instead of candy, fruit and gifts, their
boots could be filled with switches, which may be put to use! The
Christmas festivities officially end on the Epiphany, when priests visit
their parishioners to bless their homes. Families take down Christmas
trees and decorations on that day as well.
Information:
Christmas in Croatia
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