Keep on speaking about Russian culture (namely) about PANCAKE WEEK.

  Pancake week is one of the few ancient pagan holidays which was preserved in Russia after the adoption of Christianity. Carnival is celebrated the week before Great Lent and seven weeks before Easter.

  Maslennitsa was appropriated by the Christian Church as a religious holiday and renamed “Cheese Week”.

  Actually, the purpose of this holiday is to give a joyful farewell to Winter and welcome in Spring because Spring is considered to be a time of recovery for nature and a time for the Sun’s warmth! Since time began, people perceived Spring as the beginning of new life. They worshipped the Sun which gave life and energy to all living creatures. Formally, in honor of the Sun, people baked unleavened bread. When they learned to prepare leavened dough, they began to bake pancakes instead. Our ancestors believed that round, ruddy pancakes represented the Sun, and that by eating a pancake, they were eating the heat and power of the Sun.

Russians celebrate Maslenitsa for one full week! There are special traditions for each day of this week! You can find more information about these traditions and a pancake recipe in my video under this article!

Pancakes

Also, I recommend that you watch one of the best Russian movies ever made,«The Barber of Siberia» by Nikita Mikhalkov. From my point of view, Pancake Week was perfectly shown in this movie. This movie is highly recommended to anyone interested in Russian culture and the Russian soul.

P.S. If you are interested in Russian-learn Russian online.