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Riga Christmas Market
The Riga Christmas Market ( Latvian: ''Rīgas Ziemassvētku tirdziņš''), is a Christmas market held every year in Riga, Latvia. Taking place from late November to early January in Dome Square beside the Riga Cathedral, it has become an annual tradition of the city. Coinciding with the Advent season and extending through New Year's celebrations, the market offers visitors a festive atmosphere filled with traditional treats, handcrafted goods, and cultural events. History Riga has a longstanding history of Christmas celebrations, dating back to the Middle Ages. The earliest documented instance of a decorated Christmas tree in Riga dates back as far as 1510, when members of the local merchants' guild Brotherhood of Blackheads adorned a tree with artificial roses, danced around it in the marketplace, and then set it ablaze. This has led to claims that Riga is the birthplace of the tradition, however, that has been disputed by the Estonian capital of Tallinn, where the Brotherhood o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvian Language
Latvian (, ), also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken in the Baltic region, and is the language of the Latvians. It is the official language of Latvia as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 1.5 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether, 2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, spoke Latvian in the 2000s, before the total number of inhabitants of Latvia slipped to 1.8 million in 2022. Of those, around 1.16 million or 62% of Latvia's population used it as their primary language at home, though excluding the Latgale Planning Region, Latgale and Riga Planning Region, Riga regions it is spoken as a native language in villages and towns by over 90% of the population. As a Baltic languages, Baltic language, Latvian is most closely related to neighboring Lithuanian language, Lithuanian (as well as Old Prussian language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Its capital Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest List of cities and towns in Estonia, urban areas. The Estonian language is the official language and the first language of the Estonians, majority of its population of nearly 1.4 million. Estonia is one of the least populous members of the European Union and NATO. Present-day Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. The Ancient Estonia#Early Middle Ages, medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Northern Crusades in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yule Log
The Yule log is a specially selected log burnt on a hearth as a winter tradition in regions of Europe, and subsequently North America. Today, this tradition is celebrated by Christians and modern pagans on or around Christmas/Yule. The name by which this tradition goes, as well as when and how the Yule log should be burnt, varies widely with time and place. The first solid evidence for this tradition originates in 1184 CE as a Christian Christmas eve tradition. The practice was originally known as the Christmas log (and still is in languages other than English), with Yule log first used in the late 17th century. The origins of the yule log are unclear, with scholar proposing a variety of possible theories ranging from a medieval Christmas tradition, a surviving ritual from Albanian, Roman, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic or Slavic paganism, or as a Proto-Indo-European ritual that has survived in a variety of cultures until today. Folklorist Linda Watts provides the following overview o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riga Black Balsam
Riga Black Balsam () is a traditional Latvian balsam (drink), balsam often considered to be the national drink of Latvia. According to tradition, only the Head Liquor Master and two of his apprentices know the exact recipe. Nowadays, Riga Black Balsam is produced by JSC Latvijas Balzams and has received more than 100 awards at different international fairs throughout its history. More than 2 million bottles of Riga Black Balsam are produced each year and exported to 30 countries. There are several variations of the balsam with blackcurrants, cherry, cherries, and even brandy. History During Abraham Kunze's lifetime The traditional recipe was created in 1752 by , an apothecary living in Riga. In 1762, Kunze published an advertisement for the balsam in the December 23rd issue of the newspaper, describing its purported healing properties and instructions for use and offering it in flasks, cruses and bottles of an unspecified volume sealed with wax with his initials (A.K.) press ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvian Cuisine
Latvian cuisine typically consists of agricultural products, with meat featuring in most main dishes. Fish (food), Fish is commonly consumed due to Latvia's location on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Latvian cuisine has been influenced by other countries of the Baltic region, Baltic rim."Latvian Cuisine." Accessed September 2011. Meals Breakfast is normally light and usually consists of sandwiches or an omelette w ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gingerbread
Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as a ginger snap. Etymology Originally, the term ''gingerbread'' (from Latin via Old French ') referred to preserved ginger. It then referred to a confection made with honey and spices. ''Gingerbread'' is often used to translate the French term ''pain d'épices'' () or the German and Polish terms ''Pfefferkuchen'' and ''Pryanik, Piernik'' respectively ( because it used to contain pepper) or ''Lebkuchen'' (of unclear etymology; either Latin ', meaning "sacrifice" or "sacrificial bread," or German ' for loaf or German for life, '). Pepper is also referred to in regional names like Norwegian ' or Czech ' (originally ''peprník''). The meaning of ''gingerbread'' has evolved over time. For centuries the term referred to a traditiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mulled Wine
Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is an alcoholic drink usually made with red wine, along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins, served hot or warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas. It is usually served at Christmas markets in Europe, primarily in Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Nordic countries, the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries, Great Britain and France. There are Non-alcoholic drink, non-alcoholic versions of it. Origins The first record of wine being spiced and heated can be found in Plautus' play ''Curculio (play), Curculio'', written during the 2nd century BC. The Romans travelled across Europe, conquering much of it and trading with the rest. The legions brought wine and viticulture with them up to the Rhine and Danube rivers and to the Scotland, Scottish border, along with their recipes. The Forme of Cury, a medieval English cookery b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and administratively lies in the Harju County, Harju ''Counties of Estonia, maakond'' (county). Tallinn is the main governmental, financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located northwest of the country's second largest city, Tartu, however, only south of Helsinki, Finland; it is also west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, north of Riga, Latvia, and east of Stockholm, Sweden. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical Names of Tallinn in different languages, name Reval. “Reval” received Lübeck law, Lübeck city rights in 1248; however, the earliest evidence of human settlement in the area dates back nearly 5,000 years. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brotherhood Of Blackheads
The Brotherhood of Black Heads (; ; ) is an association of local unmarried male merchants, ship-owners, and foreigners that was active in Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia) from the mid-14th century till 1940 but still remains active in present-day Hamburg. The Brotherhood of Black Heads originated as a military organization, but the non-military aspects of the association gradually became more pronounced until the Brotherhood became a predominantly social organization after the end (1721) of the Great Northern War. History The brotherhood traces its origin to a group of foreign merchants who, according to the legend, had participated in the defense of Tallinn in Estonia during the Saint George's Night Uprising between 1343 and 1345 when the indigenous population of Estonia unsuccessfully tried to exterminate all foreigners and eradicate Christianity from Estonia.Rannu, Elena. 1993. ''The Living Past of Tallinn.'' 3rd ed. Tallinn: Perioodika Publishers. pp. 23-29. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Market
A Christmas market is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent. These markets originated in Germany, but are now held in many countries. Some in the U.S. have Phono-semantic matching, adapted the German name to quasi-English ''Christkindlmarket'', swapping German ''Markt'' and ''market''. Christmas markets date to the Late Middle Ages in the German-speaking part of Europe and in many parts of the former Holy Roman Empire, which included many eastern regions of modern France. They became a popular Advent custom during the Reformation era. Dresden's Striezelmarkt was first held in 1434 and one of the first true Christmas markets; earlier markets of the season were "December markets". Early mentions of these "December markets" can be found in Vienna (1296), Christkindlmarkt at Marienplatz, Munich (1310), Bautzen (1384), and Frankfurt Christmas Market, Frankfurt (1393). In many towns in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, Advent i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Tree
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was developed in Central Europe, particularly Germany and Livonia (now Estonia and Latvia), where Protestantism, Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. The tree was traditionally decorated with "roses made of colored paper, tinsel, apples, wafers, and sweetmeats, confectionery". Moravian Church, Moravian Christians began to illuminate Christmas trees with candles, which were often replaced by Christmas lights after the advent of electrification. Today, there is a wide variety of Christmas ornament, traditional and modern ornaments, such as garlands, Christmas ornament, baubles, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star might be tree-topper, placed at the top of the tree to represent the Angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
