In New Khersones, Tatyana's day was celebrated for the first time

On the night of January 25, the celebration of Tatiana’s Day took place in the museum and temple complex “New Chersonesos”. Students and teachers of Sevastopol universities gathered here. They were congratulated on the holiday by the Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev and Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea Tikhon (Shevkunov).

At midnight, the Divine Liturgy dedicated to the holy martyr Tatiana, the patroness of Russian students, began in St. Vladimir’s Cathedral. About a thousand students from all universities in Sevastopol gathered in the temple. Then a religious procession took place to the temple-park in “New Chersonesus”, where a prayer service took place. Next, the guests moved to the Byzantine Quarter, where a meal and entertainment program were prepared for them.

The celebration of Tatiana’s Day from ancient times included a mandatory attendance at a prayer service in the temple, after which students were gathered for a fraternal meal. Today we have revived precisely this tradition in our museum and temple complex. And you know, at the service in the church there was an amazing feeling of unity among everyone who came to it, and most importantly, the feeling that we were standing on the threshold of the revival of our country. Dear guys, it is up to you to achieve new successes, it is up to you to make the country great and strong again, and I am sure that you will succeed, — the press service of the Government of Sevastopol quotes Mikhail Razvozhaev.

Guys, first of all I would like to thank you all for coming here. It’s night, I know how students love to sleep, especially at the end of the week. But you have gathered here so that we can continue that ancient tradition of Tatyana’s Day, the ancient tradition of Student’s Day. I hope that this tradition will become more and more interesting every year, more and more organized and more and more exciting and fun. Happy holiday! God bless you allMetropolitan Tikhon addressed the students.

In the Byzantine Quarter, students, teachers, rectors and clergy gathered around one table. All the children were fed heartily and tasty meals cooked over the fire, and were treated to sea buckthorn tea. Karaoke was arranged for the students; Alexandra Pakhmutova, Nikita Mikhalkov, and Dmitry Pevtsov congratulated them via video. In the tavern “New Chersonese” there was entertainment in every room: board games, songs with a guitar, and in the Byzantine courtyard young people and girls staged dances.

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The history of the main Russian student holiday goes back more than 250 years and is associated with the Orthodox calendar. It was on January 25 (12 according to the old style) of January 1755, the day when the church honors the memory of the holy martyr Tatiana, that Count Shuvalov presented the project of Moscow University to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. In 1791, a house church of the Martyr Tatiana was opened at Moscow State University. Since then, the holiday of St. Tatiana has become the Day of Russian Students. On January 25, 2005, the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin “On the Day of Russian Students” was issued.

source: press service of the Government of Sevastopol