St. Patrick's Day: interesting facts

• St. Patrick's Day: tidbits

Today, 17 March, Ireland, and with it the whole world turns green and begins to celebrate the unusual, bright, and, among other things, serious religious, holiday. This means that the parade will take place, will be painted in green building official, will play music and foamy beer pour a river in many cities around the world.

St. Patrick's Day we love and appreciate, although many do not know much about him. We have prepared for you ten interesting facts about this wonderful spring holiday.

1. St. Patrick, who lived in the IV - V centuries in England and Ireland, it is considered the patron saint of Ireland and the Baptist. Less well known is the fact that St Patrick is also considered the patron saint of Iceland and Nigeria, because Christianity in these countries brought the Irish missionaries. In this case, the original color associated with Saint Patrick was not green, and blue. On the few surviving images of the saint appears in blue robes.

2. However, Irish immigrants, the feast of St. Patrick's began its spread across the globe. In Ireland and Northern Ireland, the United States, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador this holiday is the state. It is also widely celebrated in countries where there is a large Irish diaspora. St. Patrick's Day today - is not only a religious celebration, but also a kind of festival of Irish culture.

3. The symbol of the holiday is considered trifoliate clover and green color. There is a legend according to which, during the homily of the Holy Trinity, Patrick plucked a growing clover underfoot, to demonstrate the unity of the gathering of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

4. It is also considered a symbol of the holiday leprechauns - small mythical men who keep the gold in the pot, repairing shoes mythical beings and fulfill desires.

5. According to legend, Saint Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland. However, scientists say that snakes and was not at all on the island, which is famous for its cold climate. Historians believe that the legend should be interpreted as an allegory: for snakes, likely meaning the pagan beliefs.

6. Total half a century ago, St. Patrick's Day celebrated virtually "dry". He considered strictly religious holiday, and from 1903 to 1970 law forbade pubs work on 17 March. "Beer", the holiday has become relatively recently, in the early '90s. Now, on this day all over the world drink about 13 million pints of Guinness alone.

7. In the past year, the Russian Orthodox Church has included in mesyatseslov "St. Patrick's Day, Ireland, the Illuminator," and even some Western saints who lived before the separation of the churches in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic. This means that the St. Patrick's Day is now in Russia, although it is not celebrated 17 and 30 March, as well as Christmas, which, according to the Orthodox tradition usually celebrated according to the Julian calendar.

8. Today, to get to the St. Patrick's Day in Ireland, the tourist will have to try hard, because many tourists will appreciate the Irish holiday, book the rooms themselves to the feast, six months before the action itself.

9. According to folk tradition, as in this day people dress up in green clothes or attached to a shamrock. For the first time this custom is mentioned in 1689. Until this year, the Irish wore on his chest a cross of St. Patrick. Up to the XVIII century the custom of wearing a shamrock was considered vulgar, but the tradition has taken root over time.

10. The United States was born the tradition of friendly pinching those not wearing green on March 17. Also, in many American cities, there is a tradition in the St. Patrick's Day paint reservoirs in green. It is believed that the origin of the tradition laid the workers followed the Chicago River pollution level: they painted it green water vegetable dye to track the illegal dumping of waste.