The Vitoslavlitsi folk wooden architecture museum invites visitors to a new ethnographic program. On November 13, on the eve of the day of the merciless and miracle workers Kuzma and Demyan, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the territory of the museum complex, visitors will be told in an interactive format about the traditions of celebrating Kuzminki.
Guests will also discover the secrets of spinning and knitting, combing wool and making felt boots, demonstrate the work of a real blacksmith, learn writing, reading, counting and other tricks, as the Novgorod peasants did. Also, the program of the holiday “We meet Kuzminki, we send autumn” offers to play kissing games.
The brothers Cosmas and Damianus (Cuzma and Demianus) were known as skilled Roman healers who, by the power of prayer, cured mental and physical ailments free of charge to anyone who turned to them for help. If in the lives of Kuzma and Demyan they are healers, then in the folk tradition they are “craftsmen” who did not take money from anyone for their work. In Rus, Kuzma and Demyan were revered above all as blacksmiths who forged not only iron, but also good health and a long family life.
“People said: ‘Kuzminki – only a commemoration of autumn.’ By tradition, on November 14, they finally said goodbye to autumn and welcomed winter,” reports the Novgorod Museum-Reserve.
Photo from the editorial archive