Poland prepares for Christmas with St Nicholas

2010-11-28
AB

Poland will officially start preparing for Christmas in little over week's time, as the country celebrates St Nicolas's day.

 

Monday 6 December will mark Dzien Swietego Mikolaja and the beginning of this year's Christmas festivities as millions of Poles honour St Nicholas.

 

The day before – Sunday 5 December – will see countless parties held across the country culminating in children hanging stockings, or leaving freshly polished shoes, for Swieto Mikolaj to fill with treats while they sleep. Typical gifts include fruit, nuts, special Nicholas candies and cookies.

 

Descending from heaven with an angel helper, the Polish St Nicholas travels on foot, on horseback or in a sleigh pulled by a white horse as he visits homes across the country.

 

Christmas celebrations reach their climax on 24 December, when Poles take part in Wigilia or the Vigil.

 

For Poles, Christmas Eve is a night of magic when animals are said to talk and people have the power to predict the future.

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