Rome where to celebrate the new year. The history of the origin of the tradition of celebrating the new year. New Year before the October Revolution

26.09.2019

We tell you how to celebrate the New Year in Italy (in particular, in Rome) in 2020. Information about prices for hotels, tours and food, weather and events, and restaurants. Reviews of tourists about the holiday in the capital.

How is New Year celebrated in Italy?

Surely many have heard about a funny tradition in Italy - throwing old things out of windows on New Year's Eve. Having got rid of the rubbish they do not need, the Italians believe that they will become happy next year. Alas, the old tradition is slowly becoming obsolete, it is now in vogue to buy new things for the holiday.

The country's main Christmas tree is set up in Piazza Venezia in Rome, and another beautiful Christmas tree stands by the Colosseum. Piazza Navona has a Christmas market with souvenirs, children's attractions and animators. Children are congratulated by the Italian Santa Claus - Babbo Natale - and the fairy Befana, who puts sweets in the sock of obedient children, and coals for naughty children.

At 9 pm, the Italians see off the old year, and after a plentiful feast, everyone goes to move into the street, traffic is blocked from the evening. On the streets, people noisily congratulate each other, drink sparkling wine and immediately break bottles, set off firecrackers and fireworks.

In Rome Fori Imperiali Street is blocked and they are preparing for the on-air New Year's concert near the Altar of the Fatherland. You need to arrive before 22:00, they will not let you in later. On Piazza del Popolo, intoxicating drinks are drunk straight from the throat, and the most desperate jump from the bridge into the Tiber. At midnight, everyone counts down in chorus, fireworks rumble, champagne flows like a river.

In Milan on New Year's Eve, all festive events take place on the main city square, Piazza Duomo, near the Cathedral. Young people go to the best nightclub in the city, Capodanno a Milano, and lovers of a relaxing holiday celebrate at home or in restaurants.

In Venice Piazza San Marco becomes the center of festivities, thousands of garlands adorn the facades of ancient buildings, spruce flaunts right there. Here everyone counts the time together, and the holiday comes to the sound of the clock of the 98-meter Campanile bell tower. At midnight, everyone exchanges a kiss, and the sky is lit up with bright flashes of fireworks.

(Photo © Duncan Stephen / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Weather in Rome for the New Year

Usually the temperature here is +8...+12°C, at night +3...+5°C, sometimes it rains, so it's better to take an umbrella with you. The temperature may drop by 5-6 degrees, so you need to dress warmly - a warm jacket with a hood or a coat. If you plan to walk around the city, then give preference to comfortable shoes at low speed.

Restaurants on New Year's Eve

Rome is not the city where you should celebrate the New Year in a restaurant, it is better to have dinner in some cozy place and go to celebrate the holiday with everyone outside. If the arrival in the capital is planned late in the evening on December 31 and there is no energy left for stormy celebrations, then you should find a hotel with a restaurant so as not to waste time looking for a suitable free institution.

Most Roman restaurants are open on New Year's Eve, the cost of dishes usually rises by 30-50%. Of course, it is better to book a table in advance, especially if the place is near Piazza del Popolo or the Colosseum. But even walking around the city around 19-20 hours, you can find a good place for dinner. It is not necessary to dress too smartly, it is not accepted here. Usually Italians have dinner and go outside by 22:00, so the maximum program of the restaurant is live music.

If the prospect of jostling in the crowd does not appeal, and the celebration in the hotel of the restaurant seems too boring, book a table in the restaurant Roof Garden Hotel Forum Roma five minutes walk from the Colosseum. From the open terrace you can enjoy the views of the Roman Forum and festive fireworks, the program includes dancing, music, gourmet dishes (lobsters, truffles, lasagna, traditional desserts, red and white wine). The celebration lasts from 21:00 to 2:30, the cost of the New Year's banquet is about 360 euros.

More democratic prices in the restaurant Casa Coppelle in Piazza delle Coppelle. The cost of the banquet is 130 euros (excluding drinks), advance booking is paid at a rate of 30%. Excellent cuisine in the restaurant Il Chianti on Via delle Lavatore near the Trevi Fountain. There are Russian-speaking waiters here, you can have dinner at a convenient time, and then go outside to celebrate with everyone.

(Photo © vanilla.noir / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Where to go in Rome for the New Year holidays?

On January 1, Italians sleep until noon, all museums are closed on this day, even restaurants do not open until noon. You can not count on an excursion, it is better to walk on foot or take a ride on a tourist bus. If the weather is favorable, then you can take a walk in the parks, visit the Borghese villas. It is better to prepare for the trip in advance and read it a few days in advance.

On January 2, you can already take any excursion and see the Eternal City more closely: cathedrals, fountains, the Capitoline Hill, the Forum, the Colosseum, the Vatican and other sights. In, especially the Vatican, it is better to book tickets in advance via the Internet, a lot of time is spent waiting in lines.

Popular tours in Rome

In January 2020, interesting events will take place in Rome: exhibitions at the Lapidarium, an international photography festival, and lovers of classical music will be able to visit the Opera. There is no strict dress code of tailcoat and evening dress, but it is better to dress smartly, without traditional jeans and sweaters. Tickets can also be booked online. On January 6, the city celebrates the feast of Epiphanius with costumed processions. You can find out what events are taking place in Rome.

If the New Year holidays are long enough and you are not in Rome for the first time, you can leave the capital for neighboring cities: by train to Naples 1 hour away, a little longer (1.5 hours) to go to Florence. You can visit a beautiful city on the water - read, in 1, 2 and 3 days.

(Photo © staceymk11 / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Prices in 2020

The cost of accommodation in hotels in Rome for the New Year and Christmas rises, so it is better to plan such trips in advance. In autumn, you can book a room in the historical center with good discounts on Roomguru: a regular double in 1-2 * costs from 60 euros, accommodation in a three-star hotel will cost from 70 euros (). In a 4-star hotel, you can rent a room at a price of 77 euros (), in a five-star hotel - from 160 euros per day.

In Rome, you can dine for 8-15 euros, have breakfast for 3-7 euros, and dine for 5-10 euros per person, if you choose establishments for locals. In tourist restaurants, dinner will cost 35-40 euros. The cost of a New Year's banquet in a good establishment starts from 100 euros, in an elite restaurant 350-450 euros. An advance payment of 20-30% of the order value is required.

Tours to Italy for the New Year - 2020

Consider how much tours to Italian cities cost for the new year 2020. Prices are current at the time of publication, closer to the holidays they are likely to rise. The cost of vouchers is indicated for two people with a departure from Moscow.

Cheap to go to Rimini- vouchers for 7-8 nights with a departure on December 28-30 and accommodation in a two- or three-star hotel cost from 60 thousand rubles. Accommodation in a 4 * hotel costs from 85 thousand rubles for two, in 5 * - from 160 thousand.

But New Year's tours in Rome are already a little more expensive - on average, from 80 thousand rubles for a weekly ticket with accommodation in the city center or close to it. About the same it costs to go to Milan for the New Year 2020.

(Photo © fabbriciuse / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

New Year in ancient Rome. December 27th, 2011

January is a symbolic month for the beginning of the new year, because it got its name in honor of the two-faced Roman god Janus. God looks back - to the past year and forward - to the next.

Roman festivities in honor of the onset of the New Year were called Saturnalia. People decorated their houses, gave gifts to each other. Slaves drank with their masters, and for several days the people did whatever they pleased.
The holiday fell on the last half of December - the time when agricultural work came to an end and everyone was striving for rest and fun in connection with the end of the harvest.

During Saturnalia, public affairs were suspended, schoolchildren were released from classes, criminals were forbidden to be punished. Slaves received special benefits these days: they were freed from ordinary work, had the right to wear pilleus (a symbol of liberation), received permission to eat at a common table in the clothes of masters, and even accepted services from them.

The public festival began with a sacrifice before the temple of Saturn in the forum; then a religious feast was held, in which senators and horsemen dressed in special costumes took part. In families, the day began with a sacrifice (a pig was slaughtered) and passed in fun, with friends and relatives exchanging gifts. The streets were crowded with people; exclamations of Jo Saturnalia (it was called clamare Saturnalia) were heard everywhere.

There were even laws of their own kind for holding Saturnalia, according to which it was not allowed to make any speeches, except for cheerful and mocking ones, it was necessary to prepare money, clothes, silver in advance in order to send them to friends. Moreover, the rich man should not, he was to give gifts to the rich man, and everything had to be sent to scientists in double size, "because they deserve to receive a double share.
The poor man, if he is a learned man, let him send in response to the rich man either a book of one of the ancient writers, or his own work, whichever he can. The rich man is obliged to accept this gift with a bright face, and having accepted it, immediately read it, ”wrote the great satirist of antiquity Lucian.

The Christmas holidays familiar to us are similar to the merry winter Saturnalia.
After dinner on December 16, one of the priests-pontiffs (later this title passed to the popes), sitting under the portico of the temple of Saturn, solemnly proclaimed: “Saturnalia!” And all of Rome was literally shaking from the screams of a crowd of thousands, which, cheerfully running through the streets of the city, loudly announced the upcoming event.

Among the crowd, mummers were certainly present, dressed in animal skins - especially wolves. There are also groups of slaves freed on the occasion of the holiday (they are wearing special headdresses). They all shout joyfully: “I am Saturnalia! I am Saturnalia! On holidays, no wars, no work, no school. Like damned, only bakers and confectioners work. And songs are already heard from the houses, dances are everywhere ...

These days, everything is allowed and drunkenness, and orgies, and gambling. The famous Roman poet Horace dubbed all this "December freedom". Shutovsky dressed up and drove around the city, even some of the prisoners. They did not stand on ceremony at all. And all this for the sake of everyone's fun! Many bans were lifted, and a nationwide theater show began. Slaves dressed in the clothes of their masters, and the masters, in tatters, accepted with pleasure to serve at the table.

How the New Year was celebrated in different countries

In various Christian countries, the New Year was celebrated on March 1, September 1, March 25, September 23 and December 25. Ancient Rome identified the coming of the new year with the beginning of work in the fields. The holiday among the Romans was called Saturnalia, in honor of the god Saturn. An unusual tradition of the holiday of the inhabitants of Ancient Rome was a joint feast of masters and slaves. The rich gave gifts to the poor, the poor also prepared symbolic gifts (fruits, flowers, branches of green plants). From January 1, the holiday began to be celebrated only in 46 BC.

Photo: New Year began to be celebrated in winter in 46 (pixabay.com/Adgery)

He was transferred by the great Roman emperor and commander Julius Caesar. On this day, the citizens of the Roman Empire made all kinds of sacrifices to the god Janus. The first day of the year was considered auspicious for them. It was from him that the most important things began to be conducted.

The French celebrated the New Year first on December 25, and only then on March 1. In the 12th century, the celebration coincided with Easter. From January 1, the New Year began to be celebrated only from 1564. This is evidenced by the decree of King Charles the ninth. In England and Germany, such a decree from the government was issued in the 18th and 17th centuries respectively.

In Russia, since the introduction of Christianity, the New Year was also celebrated on Easter Day or in March, which is more common. In 1492, one of the Grand Dukes, John the 3rd, approved the decision of the entire Moscow Cathedral to consider September 1 as the beginning of the year. On this day, people paid all sorts of duties and tribute.

Photo: New Year in Russia was celebrated in autumn for a long time (pixabay.com/congerdesign)

To make this day more solemn, the prince came to the Kremlin. There, every person, regardless of position in society, could seek the truth from him. In 1698, the last New Year was celebrated in September. The king gave each of his guests an apple, congratulated them on the New Year, new happiness, and called them brother. Further, Peter I in 1700 ordered to celebrate the holiday in accordance with European customs - January 1.

It is interesting that in many countries the New Year, although considered a holiday, does not eliminate the need to go to work. Unlike European countries, where in most cases January 2 is already considered a working day, the Japanese and Chinese work on January 1. On this day, even school and student classes are not canceled, because in China the New Year holiday has been celebrated for centuries in late January - early February. It is on February 16, 2018, according to the Eastern calendar, that the Yellow Earth Dog will come into its own.

Photo: The symbol of the New Year 2018 is a dog (pixabay.com/photo-graphe)

The history of New Year's symbols

The history of the origin of the symbols of the New Year is no less interesting. Already at the end of November, festively decorated New Year trees can be seen on the streets of the city. They almost always have a pleasant illumination, beautiful toys, confetti and the well-known "rain".

In ancient times, it was believed that if a person puts a Christmas tree at home on New Year's Eve, then evil forces will not touch his home, and even vice versa - during this period they will become kinder. The mystical component of the tradition has long been forgotten, but the beautiful Christmas tree still stands on our homes for the entire duration of the celebration.

Another well-known symbol of the New Year holidays is Santa Claus. The name of this kind character, who distributes gifts to kids, is different in different countries. For example, in the Netherlands his name is Sinte Klaas, in the USA and England - Santa Claus. Spain welcomes him as Noel's dad, and Romania as Mosh Dzharila.

The history of the appearance of the New Year's character is described in folklore. It is believed that this is none other than Student or Treskun - the spirit of cold, the owner of all the snow-covered forests of the fields. He brought cold to Earth, flavored with snow and snowstorms. However, he did not give gifts. Rather, on the contrary, people brought him all sorts of offerings.

New Year's is a difficult holiday. To begin with, this is, in general, the first human holiday, and therefore the most ancient holiday! One way or another, it was celebrated among all peoples. And getting acquainted with the traditions of celebrating the New Year - today and many centuries ago, in Russia and on the other side of the globe - one can only be surprised at the unity and diversity of the world.

All holidays holiday

During excavations of the ancient Egyptian pyramids, archaeologists found a vessel on which it was written: "The beginning of a new year." Ancient Egyptian New Year was celebrated during the flood of the Nile (around the end of September), a very important event, because it was only thanks to him that grain grew in the dry desert. In the absence of Christmas trees, the Egyptians decorated palm trees and held ritual boat rides and chants.

And in ancient Mesopotamia 3 thousand years ago, the New Year was celebrated with national rejoicing. The joy was caused by the same reason - the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates. Among the Mesopotamians, this happened in early March. To celebrate, everyone was forbidden to work, punish, administer courts - for a whole 12 days! All this time, people celebrated another victory of the bright god Marduk over the forces of destruction and death. And they staged it, arranging mystery processions and a carnival with a masquerade. Cuneiform tells us that these were the days of "unbridled freedom, when the whole world order was put upside down."

In ancient Babylon The New Year was celebrated in the spring. During the holiday, the king left the city for several days. While he was away, the people had fun and could do whatever they liked. A few days later, the king and his retinue in festive clothes solemnly returned to the city, and the people returned to work. So every year people start life anew.

And for many ancient peoples, the celebration of the New Year coincided with the beginning of the revival of nature and was most often timed to coincide with the month of March. So in the law of Moses there is a decree to count the New Year from the month of "Aviv" (i.e. ears of corn), which corresponded to our March and April.

Although sometimes the New Year was celebrated, on the contrary, at the end of the fat harvest time. Celts and Gaul (the territory of modern France and part of England) celebrated the new year at the end of October. The holiday was called Samhain (end of summer), and it was he who slowly flowed into Halloween. On New Year's Eve, the Celts decorated their homes with evergreen mistletoe branches to drive away ghosts. They believed that it was on the New Year that the spirits of the dead were alive.

ancient romans long celebrated the new year since March. Even before our era, they began to have fun all New Year's Eve, wishing each other happiness, good luck and prosperity. On the same day, it was customary to make congratulations and gifts to each other, especially to officials. At first, they gave each other fruits pasted over with gilding, dates and wine berries, then copper coins and even valuable gifts (the latter was practiced only among wealthy people). Patricians received the most gifts. Each client had to give his patron a gift on New Year's Day. This custom became subsequently obligatory for all inhabitants of Rome. And the emperor Caligula on the first day of the New Year went to the square in front of the palace and accepted gifts from his subjects, writing down who, how much and what he gave ...

But in 45 BC. The High Priest Julius Caesar, with the help of his priests and astrologers, introduced a new calendar and decided to celebrate the New Year from January 1. And for good reason. The Romans revered January as the month of the god Janus, who looked both into the past and into the future. Janus is the keeper of time, the deity of every beginning, entrance and exit (therefore, he still patronizes all doors with their locks and locks). Such a month could stand only after the end of the last year and at the beginning of the next year.

Russian New Year is not easy!

The celebration of the New Year in Russia has a difficult fate, like its history itself. The date of the beginning of the year has changed on our lands more than once, and changes in the celebration of the New Year were associated with the most important historical events that affected the entire state as a whole.

For our distant ancestors, hunters and cattle breeders, the day of the winter solstice was especially important: although winter is fierce in full force, the Sun gradually flares up, the day begins to lengthen. The year began in the middle of winter with the celebration of Kolyada. Later, during the development of agriculture, another holiday gained great importance. On the March day of the spring equinox, the Slavs celebrated the New Year, the awakening of Nature (Komoeditsy), that is, the agricultural New Year. In the Middle Ages, our ancestors even counted time by years, and not by years. There were chronicles. The very word “year” means expectation, from “goditi” - to wait, hence our “wait”. It is curious that in Russian the age of small children, who just don’t know how to wait and from whom there is still no help, is counted in years, not in years: 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years. And the year itself, which is now divided into 4 seasons, our ancestors, without trifles, divided it into winter and summer, or winter and summer time.

With the adoption of Christianity by Kievan Rus, in 990 (988), the New Year began to be celebrated on March 1. The starting point was the "day of the creation of Adam" (Friday, March 1, 1 "from the Creation of the world"). And this is well superimposed on the well-established Slavic tradition of celebrating the New Year (Maslenitsa) in early spring.

But in the year 7000 “from the Creation of the World” (1492 AD) in Medieval Russia, the beginning of the year was moved to September 1. In many lands, it was on the New Year that tribute, duties, various quitrents were collected (an echo of the obligatory New Year's gifts). And often it was in the spring that tribute was collected and the year began, so the spring New Year was very convenient, because most of the various fees went to spring sowing. But in Russia, everything was different: during the winter, the poor, from whom tribute was collected, could run out of supplies. Therefore, the duty was levied after the harvest, that is, in the fall. The New Year was also moved there.

Having signed the decree, Tsar Ivan the Third himself (the same one who married Sophia Paleolog, brought signs of imperial power from Constantinople and made Moscow the “third Rome”) staged a magnificent celebration and appeared in the Kremlin, where every commoner or noble boyar could approach him and seek directly from him truth and mercy. Arranging solemn festive ceremonies on the occasion of the September New Year, the king and the clergy took an example from Byzantium. By the end of the 15th century, the creation of a centralized Russian state was completed, and the translation to the autumn time of the countdown of the year began to be traced more clearly in written sources.

In 7208 "from the Creation of the world" on December 19, Peter I, by his decree, postponed the celebration of the New Year to January 1, 1700 (7209), mistakenly considering 1700 as the year of the beginning of the century. Not wanting to completely expel the custom of celebrating the New Year, he established it according to the customs he borrowed from Holland and other countries of Western Europe. To justify his undertakings, the Tsar cited the simple and obvious grounds that "not only in many European and Christian countries, but also among the Slavic peoples, who agree with our Eastern Church in everything, and all the Greeks, from whom our Orthodox faith is accepted, according to their years are calculated from the Nativity of Christ on the eighth day later, i.e. January 1. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing well-being in business and prosperity in the family. , to amuse children, to sled down from the mountains, but adults should not commit drunkenness and massacre - there are enough other days for that.

Tsar Peter relied on the Julian calendar, which was still adopted in many Protestant states of Europe. Russia then celebrated the New Year at the same time as these countries, but 11 days later than the Catholic countries, where the Gregorian calendar had been in force since 1582. In the 18th century, almost all Protestant states switched to the Gregorian style, and the New Year in Russia again ceased to coincide with Western Europe. Only starting from 1919, the New Year holiday in post-revolutionary Russia began to be celebrated in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.

"What do you have?"

Chinese New Year

In China, the New Year is traditionally celebrated on the winter new moon. In the Gregorian calendar, this corresponds to one of the days between January 21st and February 21st. Each new year is associated with one of the 12 animals and one of the five elements. The first day of the New Year begins with the launch of fireworks and crackers and the burning of incense. Fireworks are supposed to scare away evil spirits and thereby attract the spirit of peace and happiness to the family. At the end of the day, the family welcomes the return of the deities home after their visit to the spirit world, where they "gave an account" of the past year, and then pays homage to the memory of the ancestors.

Japan

If we celebrate the New Year in the evening, then the Japanese in the early morning. No wonder Japan is called the land of the rising sun. On the morning of January 1, all residents of cities and villages, with the first rays of the sun, congratulate each other on the coming year and exchange gifts. Also in Japan, bells ring 108 times on New Year's Eve. Each stroke of the bell corresponds to one of the vices. There are six of them: greed, stupidity, anger, frivolity, indecision and envy, but each vice has 18 different shades, which in total is 108 bells. Here is such edification and meticulousness.

Vietnam

Here the New Year is celebrated at night by the fires. With the onset of dusk, the Vietnamese gather with the whole family in parks, gardens or on the streets, make fires and cook special delicacies from rice on the coals. On this night, all quarrels are forgotten, all insults are forgiven.

Mongolia

Instead of magnificent celebrations in Mongolia, sports competitions are arranged - a test of dexterity and courage. New Year in this country coincides with the holiday of cattle breeding, so on this day it is customary to cook a lot of meat dishes. Just like the peoples of Europe, the Mongols celebrate the New Year at the Christmas tree. Santa Claus also comes to them, but in the clothes of a cattle breeder.

Bulgaria

New Year in Bulgaria is perhaps the most romantic and mysterious. When people gather at the festive table, the lights go out in all houses for three minutes. These minutes are called the minutes of New Year's kisses, the secret of which is kept by darkness.

Romania

If you celebrate the New Year in Romania, be careful not to choke! It is customary to bake various small surprises in New Year's pies: small money, porcelain figurines, rings, hot pepper pods ... If you find a ring in the pie, then, according to an old belief, this means that the New Year will bring you a lot of happiness.

Italy

In Italy, on New Year's Eve, it is customary to get rid of old things, and Christmas is marked by the burning of a Christmas log (how can you not remember the baby Pinocchio ...)

Cuba

In Cuba, you can thoroughly get wet if you decide to walk down the street on New Year's Eve. The fact is that the inhabitants of this country fill their glasses with water before the New Year, and when the clock strikes twelve, they splash it out through the open window into the street as a sign that the old year has ended happily. Cubans also want the new year to be as clear and pure as water.

Jewish New Year

The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah (head of the year) marks the beginning of a ten-day period of spiritual self-deepening and repentance. The next 10 days until the Day of Judgment (Yom Kippur) are called "days of return" (meaning the return to God). They are also called "days of remorse" or "days of trembling." It is believed that on Rosh Hashanah the fate of a person is decided for the year ahead. On the first night of the holiday, Jews greet each other with a wish: “May you be written down and signed for a good year in the Book of Life!”

In the legends of the ancient Slavs, there was one character - Zimnik. He was presented as an old man of small stature, with white hair and a long gray beard, with an uncovered head, in warm white clothes and with an iron mace in his hands. Where he passes - there expect a cruel cold. Among the Slavic deities, Karachun, an evil spirit that shortens life, also stood out for its ferocity. The ancient Slavs considered him an underground god who commanded frost. And there was Pozvizd - the Slavic god of storms and bad weather. As soon as he shook his head, a large hail fell on the ground. Instead of a cloak, the winds dragged behind him, snow flakes fell from the hems of his clothes.
New Year is a ritual that has ancient origins. Spruce among the ancient Celts, and, of course, not only among them, was revered for a tree that is endowed with a magical meaning. The Christmas tree is an evergreen tree, which means that it does not succumb to any destructive forces. And therefore, the spruce was the abode of the forest deity, friendship with which was very important for people.
The spirit was in the oldest and most powerful spruce, in front of which they gathered during the winter solstice to appease the spirit. In the old days, they knew how to appease only one method - by making sacrifices. At first they were human victims, later they became animals.
The insides of dead victims were hung on spruce branches, and the branch itself was smeared with blood. They were the prototype of modern Christmas decorations.

The ancient Celts also celebrated the New Year when the work in the field ended. But only not after sowing, but after harvesting, in the fall. Samhain or "Samhain" was celebrated on the night of October 31st to November 1st. It was one of the four major Celtic festivals. In the modern world, it has been replaced by the famous Halloween - the eve of All Saints' Day.
Samhain was considered the time when the border between the ordinary world of Mortals and the Other World disappeared, so spirits at that moment can come to our world, and people can get into another world. “On the eve of Samhain, a ghost sits on every step,” as the old proverb says. For example, there was even a special goblin, Samhanah, who only appears on the night of Samhain. This was a great danger, so no one should be alone that night. And the Celts preferred to get together, feast (the day before, cattle were slaughtered for the holiday), sing, dance and have fun, trying to drive away the ghosts. Mass festivities were held in Tara - the sacred capital of the ancient Celts - the people competed in various games and races.
The ancient Scandinavians also celebrated the New Year on the winter solstice, December 22. This holiday was called Yule (from the Scandinavian word “wheel”, “spinning”, perhaps this meant, as it were, the turn of the year to spring, or maybe there is a solar symbolism of the wheel here). It was a very magical holiday. The longest night was supposed to end with the victory of the Sun and the New Year, various magical rituals were used for this. Just like the Celts on Samhain, the Scandinavians believed that on Yule night - the longest of the year - the border between the obvious world and the other is erased, and spirits penetrate people. Therefore, the whole clan must be together, feast and have fun.
Yule lasted for 13 nights - perhaps the tradition of the Christmas holidays comes from there. The next day was called the “day of fate”, since the most truthful signs appeared precisely on the “twelfth night”. In addition, all actions and deeds committed before sunset determined all the events of the next year, hence the proverb “as you meet the New Year, so you will spend it.”

In ancient Egypt, the New Year was celebrated during the flood of the Nile, when the sacred star Sirius rose (it is difficult to specify the exact date - the spread is somewhere from July to September), and the first season of the ancient Egyptian year - “akhet” began. The flood of the Nile was called the arrival of Hapi, the god of the Upper and Lower Nile, who gives abundance. It was a sacred time for Egypt, because a drought would endanger the very existence of this agricultural state. Therefore, with the rise of Sirius, a new period began in the life of the ancient Egyptians, who by that time had completed the sowing.
4,000 years ago, the New Year was celebrated in ancient Babylon. Here he came with the first new moon (as soon as the first thin month appears) after the vernal equinox, which was considered the first day of spring. Indeed, the arrival of spring is a very logical time to start the new year. This is the time of rebirth, planting seeds and flowering.
During the holiday, the ruler was undressed and sent out of the city, and for 11 days everyone did whatever he wanted. And every day was celebrated somehow in its own way. Then the king returned at the head of a large procession, dressed in beautiful clothes. Everyone went back to work and behaved decently. Thus, every year people started a new life. As you can see, the New Year tradition of making a decision to change something in your life in the coming year is rooted in Ancient Babylon. By the way, at that time the most popular solution was to return borrowed agricultural equipment ...

For a long time, the New Year began for the Romans on March 1st. In 46 AD. Emperor Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar - the one that is used to this day, and the New Year moved to January 1. And in order for the calendar to coincide with the movement of the sun, Caesar “extended” the previous year from 365 to 445 days.
January is a symbolic month for the beginning of the new year, because it got its name in honor of the two-faced Roman god Janus. God looks back to the past year and forward to the next.
Roman festivities in honor of the onset of the New Year were called Kalends. People decorated their houses, gave gifts to each other. Slaves drank with their masters, and for several days the people did whatever they pleased.