Moscow and Petersburg: Epiphany

On Epiphany, the Presidential Library proposes website visitors to browse virtual pages of rare editions of the 19^th century and compare the two traditions of celebrating the Epiphany – in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The historical essay of Bozheryanov, "The way Russian people used to celebrate Christmas, New Year, Epiphany and Pancake and the way they do it now" tells a lot of interesting things about celebrating the Epiphany in the two capitals. Here is how the author presents a festive Moscow: "On the day of the Epiphany people flocked to Moscow from all over the state to see the patriarch consecrate water in the Moscow River." The description of the religious procession is particularly impressive: "Procession opened a squad of archers from 400 to 600 men, as well as delegates from the stirrups and other regiments, 200 from each. All of them ceremonially dresses were marching four in a row. "

After the church reform of Peter the Great some ceremonies came to an end, but the beauty and grandeur of the holiday, so significant for all Orthodox Christians, was not affected. That is how Petersburg looked like on Epiphany in the reign of Catherine II: "From the coast to the pavilion built beyond the ice-hole, Chevalier Guards were standing on carpets and cloth spread out. Her Majesty passed by them at the head of the whole sacred audience. Troops were standing around the ice-hole forming an oblong shape. Totally there were 8,900 Guards in service."

Memories of foreigners about the Epiphany in Russia, given in the essay, also mostly cover St. Petersburg. Between the lines we see the natural surprise: "This ceremony attracts tons of people, because after the Blessing of water, newborns are baptized in the river not by dousing with water but by plunging naked babies into a hole in the ice."

Bozheryanov’s essay contains many other various descriptions of the Epiphany, which give the reader the most complete and vivid idea of how this day was celebrated in the past and what was important to the citizens of that time.