Bains glacés à St Pétersbourg

Jack Chevalier Rouvray shared St Petersburg Guide's video: Epiphany in Russia | Крещение.

The Epiphany, celebrated in Russia on January 19, marks the baptism of Jesus in the Orthodox Church. On this day (or the eve before) the Russian Church conducts the rite of the Great Blessing of the Waters. Believing that on this day water becomes holy and is imbued with special powers, Russians cut holes in the ice of lakes and rivers, often in the shape of the cross, to bathe in the freezing water. Participants in the ritual may dip themselves three times under the water, honoring the Holy Trinity, to symbolically wash away their sins from the past year, and to experience a sense of spiritual rebirth. Video by: Jeremy Nicholl