St Nicholas Day (Orthodox, Nikoljdan) · Nikoljdan

Culture of origin: Christian · Cultural

Holiday sources: Eastern Orthodox

St Nicholas's day falls on 19 December in the Eastern Christian countries that use the old church calendar. In Serbia, Nikoljdan is a family patron-saint day (krsna slava); as it falls in the Nativity Fast it is kept by the fasting rules, and hosts serve smoked carp. St Nicholas Church in Tehran, the Russian Orthodox church built by Russian emigrants in the 1940s, is dedicated to him.