Orthodox Christmas Eve, Turau 2007. Куцьця, Тураў 2007 год.
Turau is located in the Central Prypjats’ area of Polesia in southern Belarus and was an important port when the Prypjats’ River was the principal means of transportation through Polesia. Owing to the writings of the great 12th century churchman Kiryl Turauski (Кірыла Тураўскі), Turau was one of the most important sites in the early development and dissemination of Orthodox Christianity in the Slavic world.
Kuts’tsja is a Roman Catholic and Orthodox ceremony and meal with pre-Christian roots, traditionally celebrated Christmas Eve in Belarus and Ukraine — and paralleled in the Christmas-Eve vigils in Lithuania and Poland. The ceremony includes placing straw under the tablecloth to commemorate Christ’s birth in the manger; the meal includes a sweet porridge, also called kuts’tsja.
