Why Russia celebrates Christmas in January
The Russian Orthodox Church marks one of the most important Christian holidays not on December 25, but on a different date. Why?
In the Russian Empire, Christmas was originally celebrated on December 25. Before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Russia lived by the “old” Julian calendar, while the entire West had already accepted the “new” Gregorian calendar.
All the dates in Russia’s Julian calendar were 13 days behind the Western.
In 1918, Soviet Russia switched to the Gregorian calendar, and, according to the new style, all the dates shifted by 13 days.
As a result, Orthodox Christmas fell on January 7.
