ARMENIAN TRADITIONS

ARMENIAN TRADITIONS

VARDAVARVardavar (Transfiguration, Brilliance) is one of the most favorite, joyful and noteworthy holidays in Armenia. After adopting Christianity this holiday had some changes and now days it is celebrated as a holiday devoted to the well-known event of the Christ's transfiguration, when he appeared to his disciples on the Mount Tabor in his brightened appearance. According to some specialists, Vardavar holiday is also related to the Flood and the Noah's decent from the Ark.

2KHOSK ARNELThe grooms immediate family is invited to the brides house for coffee/tea or dinner. The grooms family arrives with floral arrangements and a box of chocolates.

3

Trndez andDiarntarachPeople make bonfires in their yards, make circles and go round the bonfire, and in the end they jump over the flame. Newly-weds jump over the fire in couples, and on this day recently married women usually receive gifts from their mothers-in-law.

OTHER TRADITIONS

When it comes to death, the men do not shave for 40 days.

Traditionally (especially in rural areas) Armenian families have a lot of children. A birth of a child, especially a boy, is a happy event which has always been welcome. On church holidays in front of the house where a baby was born music played and the house was decorated with green branches the symbol of family continuation. The child is not shown to anybody but the relatives for 40 days after birth.

THE TRADITION of the ARMENIAN SILVER-PLATIN

FOOD TRADITIONSThese recipes are only a few of the seasonal and traditional foods that Armenians have and they represent my families personal favorites. The Armenian people are a very old culture and have maintained their sense of family, heritage and traditions through very adverse times in history. 8

There are many "special" holiday foods Armenians prepare and enjoy. During the Easter holiday many dishes are made which are not normally made any other time of the year. Due to the Armenian belief and observation of Lent, many give up eating meat for the forty-day period. One popular food during the period of Lent is vospov kheyma.

9Armenians also bring entertaining pastimes into their traditional dishes. Just like the American tradition of boiling and coloring Easter eggs, Armenians also have this tradition. The Easter eggs are called Garmeer Havgeed (in Armenian) which means "red eggs". The eggs have this name because the shells are dyed dark red.

10ARMENIAN TRADITIONAL CLOTHES

11

JEWISH TRADITIONS

Jewish in Turkiye,are the Jewish who were saved by the Ottoman Empire during the slaughter in Spain in 1492.

They were mainly located in Theselloniki and Izmir.

Todays Turkiyes Jewish people are the following of protected Jewish by Ottomans.Thats why they have never rebel against the Turks to show their sympathy and appreciation.

JEWISH HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALSTu BistavThe 1st. Day of Agricultural Calendar.It is also called Beraha las Frutas.It is a tradition to plant young trees during the festival.

PesahIt is celebarated in commemoration of getting rid of the captivity in Egypt.Particularly ,unleavened bread is eaten on this day.

Harvest FestivalIt starts with the 1st.cultivation and ends with the harvest of the wheat which lasts about 50 days.

Tisa Be- Av

It is a lament day.Between the sun rise and sun set they fast.ROUMS

Roum is also known Urum. This name was given by Muslims to Greek people living in Anatolia. The word Roum derived from Romoes. The Roums were Greek origined Orthodox Christians who were also citizens of Roman Empire. In time they give up Latin language and adopted Greek. In 1923 because of population exchange between Greece and Turkiye most of the Roums went back to Greece.

Today most of the roums live in Cyprus.POPULATION EXCHANGE

TRADITIONS OF ROUMS Ta Fota They celebrate Jesuss baptism on 6th of January. A reverend throw a wood cross into sea and the young compete to find and get it.

Protohronia Roums celebrate Jesuss circumcision on 1st of January and on 31th of December, as at Noel, children visit houses, sing songs and collect gifts and money.

New Year At xmass, turkey is cooked and eaten.Pomegranete is believed to bring luck and at New Year night they break pomegranete infront of their houses or shops.

Ton Psihon Roums on Ton Psihon day visit the grave yards.On this day they eat a kind of helva called Koliva which is made of wallnut, almond and wheat.

Apokries Roums used to celebrate the carnaval 40 days before Easter.Before the Great Fast they used to have fun for 3 days nonestop.Parties used to be organized, masks used to be worn, traditional food used to be eaten and a lot of alcohol would be consumed.They would adorn a puppet and then burn it down.Today, they only organize dinners.

Tessarakosti It is Roums 1st day of 40 Days Easter Fast. On the 1st day they dont eat and drink anything.During the following 5 weeks they fast and dont eat any food of animal origin.At the last week of the fast only boiled vegetables and particularly lentil, which symbolizes Virgin Marrys tears, are eaten. Vayion Roums celebrate this day for Jesuss arrival to Jarusalem and met with olive branches and sturgeon branches.

THE ENDDEAR STUDENTS & FRIENDSPolitically, talking about pains, victories and defeats isnt our reason to be here and to participate in this project. If we want to know each other or increase awareness, we must realize the realities that we tried to point out from the beginning of our presentation, and teach it to our children and youth.

Historical event and situations result in times conditions and can only be true, scientific and objective if they are evaluated according to that period.When history learned in this way, it teaches next generations how to establish emphaty, understand and love ,instead of hostility. It also teaches that life is a gift .This project shows that the minorities in the same geography can be regarded as a cultural wealth that feeds and completes each other instead of being regarded as a problem.In this sense, I would like to thank to our friends,coordinators,and students who have endeavoured.

Gulsevin KORUR History Teacher