January 25, 2011

Russian Students' Day (Saint Tatyana's Day)

This is the feast day of Saint Tatyana, the patron saint of students, and the day is used to mark the end of winter term. Students in Russia gleefully drop their books and skate, go to pop concerts, join in competitions, and party.

On this day in 1755, Russia's Empress Elizabeth signed a decree that opened the Moscow State University—another thing for students to celebrate. Moscow's students typically gather in Red Square to receive official congratulations from the mayor and to drink from the mayor's barrel of a honey drink called medovukha.

Celebrate Russian culture!

Learn about folk costumes, nesting dolls, and an important architectural treasure—through coloring!  Be sure to click “Learn” to find out about each item before printing and coloring each page!

Listen to some Russian kids' songs.  (Scroll down for the MP3s.)

Try some Russian recipes. 

For more on Russian culture, check out this earlier post.