Armenians

Their New Year celebrations are on December 31st and they bake “New Year Shortbread” (round bread-shape cake of Easter Shortbread instead of plait shape) and cook Aşure (a kind of pudding especially made by using several cereals and dried fruits) during this holiday time.

The Gregorian Armenians celebrate the birthday of Christ on January 6th, while Catholic Armenians celebrate on December 24th. After returning home from the church foods prepared suitable to Armenian traditions (such as olive oil dolma, topik and mussel dolma) are presented for a feast and presents are given. The next morning males open their shops or other work places for at least one or two hours and they sprinkle the kernels of pomegranates around in hopes that this act will bring abundance throughout the year.

The Great Fast begins 7 weeks before Easter. During the fast, it is forbidden to eat animal products such as milk, cheese, eggs, butter and meat. Foodstuffs are either boiled or cooked using vegetable oil and church is visited every day. Lentils with vinegar are eaten on Thursday of Easter week and eggs are painted red. The egg represents the world. The outer shell symbolizes the firmament, the thin membrane the air; the white represents the sea while the yolk the land. The color red symbolized the fact that Jesus gave his blood to save the world. On Friday Paskalya Çöreği (Easter Cake) is baked. Fish is served for dinner on Saturday. Family members visit the church on the morning of Easter Sunday.

On the Sunday closest to the 15th of August, grape blessings are done at the Church. Before this prayer no grapes are eaten. According to traditions it is believed that the grapes would not have been ripe until that day. Grapes are very valuable fruit for Armenians. In accordance with Armenian beliefs, after the Flood, the first thing Noah did when he set foot on solid ground was to bury vine. All the grapes we eat now are believed grown from that vine.

The baptismal ceremonies of babies occur when they are toddlers, not earlier.

Fish is the preferred dish on the eve of the holidays. The cemetery is visited on the day following the Holidays.

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• Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul

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