The theologian spoke about the difference between Krasnaya Gorka and Antipaskha

Among the people, the name "Krasnaya Gorka" has been fixed for the Antipascha, which the Orthodox celebrate on April 19. Many consider them to be one holiday, but this is not the case, says Peter Pashkov, associate professor of the Department of Ancient Languages and Ancient Christian Writing at St. Tikhon's Orthodox University for the Humanities. Church and national holidays that coincide in time should technically be considered as two different events, the researcher told Izvestia.

According to him, Krasnaya Gorka represents folk festivals, egg rolling, wedding games and customs, as well as the tradition of congratulating mothers-in-law and mothers-in-law. At the same time, Antipascha, as Pashkov notes, is a church holiday — "a certain church memory" that takes place a week after Easter. Thus, in his opinion, it is rather about two different holidays — church and national.

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Speaking about the origins of Krasnaya Gorka, the researcher noted that there are several versions of the origin of this holiday, including those related to Slavic paganism. According to one of them, in pre—Christian times, bonfires were lit on the hills and hills on this day in honor of Dazhbog, the god of sunlight and fertility, they "conjured" spring with special songs and greeted the sunrise.

"However, due to the fact that we have extremely poor ideas about historical Slavic paganism, most likely these are some kind of ethnographic reconstructions of the second half of the 19th century, when such materials were popular," the expert believes.

Read more about how Krasnaya Gorka is celebrated and why it is also called the "maiden's holiday" in the Izvestia article