TRADITION

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The tra­di­tion­al Pol­ish Christ­mas cel­e­bra­tions are regard­ed as the most impor­tant annu­al fam­i­ly-focused feast. By tra­di­tion, a Christ­mas tree is dec­o­rat­ed here on the 24th of Decem­ber and stays with us until the 2nd of Feb­ru­ary, i.e. for the entire Christ­mas peri­od accord­ing to the litur­gi­cal cal­en­dar! The most impor­tant hol­i­day is the Christ­mas Eve with its cel­e­bra­tion ini­ti­at­ed by the first star occur­ring on the night sky­line. Tra­di­tion­al­ly, the Christ­mas Eve menu con­sists of 12 dish­es which sym­bol­is­es 12 apos­tles. The sup­per starts with the cer­e­mo­ny of break­ing and shar­ing wafers (“oplatek”), and express­ing the best wish­es to your rel­a­tives. On that day, the menu does not include meat, but such dish­es as a beet­root soup with tra­di­tion­al ravi­o­li, a mush­room soup, piero­gi with mush­room and sauer­kraut, carp with plait bread, a veg­etable sal­ad, kutia or a pop­py seed cake are sim­ply a must-have! Dur­ing the meal Poles sing Christ­mas car­ols, and then attend the Mid­night Mass. On Christ­mas Day, Poles love to cel­e­brate by rev­el­ling at the Christ­mas table sur­round­ed by their close fam­i­ly. Krakow is the town where you can real­ly feel the Christ­mas atmos­phere and meet your friends for a sip of famous local mulled wine. Please con­tact us for details!

The Pol­ish East­er cel­e­bra­tion is filled with var­i­ous rit­u­als and tra­di­tions. The Main Square in Krakow hous­es a tra­di­tion­al East­er Mar­ket where you can buy colour­ful East­er eggs and palms. The cel­e­bra­tions starts on Palm Sun­day and the most famous region­al events include the East­er palm com­pe­ti­tion held in Lip­ni­ca Murowana. In Kalwaria Zebrzy­dows­ka, every day a tra­di­tion­al pas­sion play is staged which cul­mi­nates in the Way of the Cross played by actors. One of the most impor­tant tra­di­tions in this peri­od is the cer­e­mo­ny of food bless­ing on Holy Sat­ur­day; this food is then served and eat­en by each fam­i­ly dur­ing their East­er break­fast. In Krakow, the bless­ing is per­formed by the Met­ro­pol­i­tan of Krakow (a car­di­nal) in front of the St. Mary’s Basil­i­ca. The East­er menu must also include colour­ful East­er tarts and sponge cakes. East­er Sun­day starts at 6 a.m. with the Mass of the Res­ur­rec­tion. It must be also added that the East­er mag­ic is enriched here by the beau­ti­ful Pol­ish spring weath­er. Please con­tact us for details!