Holidays in Bulgaria - Trifon Zarezan - holiday of winegrowers

Trifonov Day is a holiday of the southern and eastern Slavs associated with the onset of spring. It is celebrated especially cheerfully and grandly in Bulgaria, where Trifon Zarezan (Orezač) is considered the patron saint of winegrowers and winemakers. On the icons, Saint Tryphon was depicted as a young man holding a special knife for pruning grapes - a koser. People sometimes call Tryphon a drunkard, since, according to legend, while pruning vines, he cut his nose while tipsy. This day falls on February 14, just at the time when nature is preparing for spring. It is customary to celebrate this holiday for four days. For the first time of the year, grapevines are pruned for it. It is worth noting that pruning is symbolic; real pruning begins only after a few weeks. Bulgarians go to churches on Tryphon, where services are held, and prayers against pests are also held. Parishioners take specially blessed water from churches. In some areas, clergy perform a religious procession with the symbolic pruning of three grape vines and sprinkling them with holy water. Although the holiday begins with a church service, researchers claim that it has pagan roots. The fact is that the Thracians lived on the territory of the Balkan Peninsula, who were engaged in winemaking and celebrated the beginning of the agricultural year on a grand scale. And much later, the Bulgarians combined this holiday with the day of execution of the Christian Saint Tryphon. On Tryphon you are allowed to drink wine, have fun and walk. It is believed that the more wine you drink, the better the grape harvest. For the festive meal, everyone brings fragrant bread, chicken stuffed with rice and flasks of wine, into which grape branches are inserted. Celebrants water the roots of the grapes with wine. On this wild day, it is customary to choose a king, or king, of the holiday. According to legend, this should be a respected, wealthy man. If the king’s choice is made correctly, then the weather will favor the winegrowers. They carry him in their arms, pour wine on him and honor him in every possible way. The procession, consisting of the king and his “retinue,” walks for a long time through the courtyards and tastes the treats of the hospitable hosts. On the remaining days of the celebration, women prepare ritual bread and feed it to their households and livestock in order to avoid attacks by wolves.