Russian Maslenitsa in Arkhangelskoe
Today we celebrate Maslenitsa – my favourite holiday of all the holidays!
It is a Russian folk holiday celebrated during the last week before Great Lent, however its roots date back to the era before Christianity, when all Russians were pagans and believed in the god of sun, god of wind and rain, etc. During the whole week we cook and eat bliny (Russian pancakes) made of milk, flour, eggs and butter, which symbolise praise to the Sun due to their resemblance to it.
On the last day of the week – Sunday we celebrate the imminent end of the winter and typical activities include sleigh-riding, horse-riding, snowball fights and burning the mascot of winter – Kostroma or lady Maslenitsa:
We went today to Arkhangelskoe – a historical estate, which in 19th century belonged to one of the richest families in Russia – Yusupov’s family. Nowadays it is a state museum. There is a huge park, where today there were plenty of activities for Maslenitsa celebration:
Craft market:
Tea and bliny:
And of course we couldn’t miss the museum itself, featuring spectacular interiors of the 19th century:
