Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the liturgical year in Christianity, it follows the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast, and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season surrounding it.
Christmas in Poland is a major annual celebration, as in most countries of the Christian world. The observance of Christmas developed gradually over the centuries, beginning in ancient times; combining old Polish pagan customs with the religious ones introduced after the Christianization of Poland by the Catholic Church. Later influences include the mutual permeating of local traditions and various folk cultures. It is one of the most important religious holidays for Poles, who follow a somewhat strict traditional custom. Christmas trees are decorated and lit in family rooms on the day of Christmas Eve. Other trees are placed in most public areas and outside churches. Christmas in Poland is called "Boże Narodzenie", which translates to 'God's Birth'.
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.
In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects representing the birth of Jesus. While the term "nativity scene" may be used of any representation of the very common subject of the Nativity of Jesus in art, it has a more specialized sense referring to seasonal displays, in particular sets of individual sculptural figures and props that are arranged for display.
A Caganer is a figurine depicted in the act of defecation appearing in nativity scenes in Catalonia and neighbouring areas such as Andorra, Valencia, Balearic Islands, and Northern Catalonia. It is most popular and widespread in these areas, but can also be found in other areas of Spain (Murcia), Portugal, and Southern Italy (Naples).
Kraków is considered by many to be the cultural capital of Poland. It was named the European Capital of Culture by the European Union for the year 2000. The city has some of the best museums in the country and several famous theaters. It became the residence of two Polish Nobel laureates in literature: Wisława Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz, while a third Nobel laureate, the Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić also lived and studied in Krakow. It is also home to one of the world's oldest universities, the Jagiellonian University of Kraków, and Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, the oldest Polish fine art academy, established in 1818 and granted full autonomy in 1873.
Christmas wafer is a Catholic Christmas tradition celebrated in Poland, Lithuania, Moravia, and Slovakia. The custom is traditionally observed during Kūčios in Lithuania and Wigilia in Poland on December 24.
The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on the orders of King Casimir III the Great and enlarged over the centuries into a number of structures around an Italian-styled courtyard. It represents nearly all European architectural styles of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The Main Square of the Old Town of Kraków, Lesser Poland, is the principal urban space located at the center of the city. It dates back to the 13th century, and at 3.79 ha is sometimes called the largest medieval town square in Europe, but Charles Square in Prague is two times larger. The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) lists the square as the best public space in Europe due to its lively street life, and it was a major factor in the inclusion of Kraków as one of the top off-the-beaten-path destinations in the world in 2016.
The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków in Kraków, Lesser Poland, was granted the status of an independent institution in 1945. Originally, it was a branch of the Old Records Office of Kraków, in operation from 1899.
Lucjan Rydel, also known as Lucjan Antoni Feliks Rydel, was a Polish playwright and poet from the Young Poland movement.
Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School in Kraków, Poland, is one of the oldest secondary schools in Poland. Its current location is on Na Groblach Square, just across the Planty from the Kraków Old Town and a few hundred meters from Wawel Castle.
In Ukrainian culture, vertep is a portable puppet theatre and drama, which presents the nativity scene, other mystery plays, and later secular plots as well. The original meaning of the word is "secret place", "cave", "den", referring to the cave where Christ was born, i.e., the Bethlehem Cave "Вифлеемский вертеп" in the liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the 17th century, the vertep arrived in the Russian Empire after the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate, where it was known as szopka, became a Protectorat of the empire in 1654.
A Nativity play or Christmas pageant is a play which recounts the story of the Nativity of Jesus. It is usually performed at Christmas, the feast of the Nativity.
Baby Jesus theft is the theft of figurines of the infant Jesus from outdoor public and private nativity displays during the Christmas season. It is an "enduring practice" according to New York Times journalist Katie Rogers, "believed to be part of a yearly tradition, often carried out by bored teenagers looking for an easy prank." Sometimes these are stolen for resale, other times the associated pranks are more involved and include dropping it off somewhere else.
The Jew with a coin is a good-luck charm in Poland, where images or figurines of the character, usually accompanied by a proverb, are said to bring good fortune, particularly financially. The motif was first described in articles from 2000, and probably dates back to the early 1990s. While widely recognized, the figurines are not the most popular good-luck charm in Poland.
Christmas traditions include a variety of customs, religious practices, rituals, and folklore associated with the celebration of Christmas. Many of these traditions vary by country or region, while others are practiced virtually identically worldwide.
Bronisław Pięcik was a Polish precision mechanic who was renowned for the elaborate medium and large-sized Nativity scenes called Kraków szopka that he built. Pięcik first took part in the Kraków Nativity Scene Contest in 1962. By the time of his death in 2010, he had competed a total of 41 times in the contests, placing first 22 times in multiple categories.
Anna Małgorzata Szałapak (1952–2017) was a Polish ethnographer, ethnologist, singer, and performer of sung poetry, particularly at the Piwnica pod Baranami literary cabaret in Kraków.
