Easter in Slovakia

EASTER IN SLOVAKIA

What comes to your mind when you hear Easter? A lot of water? A scourge? Painted Easter egg? Probably nothing mentioned above. Welcome in Slovakia, in a land of crazy traditions, which we actually love! Slovakia is still a very religious country, so mostly these holidays are for us about the Resurrection of Christ but as every country, we do have something what makes us different. Let me tell you more! On Easter Monday, girls are waiting home for their friends, brothers, cousins who are coming on this day to visit them. The boys carry usually a scourge and a bucket full of cold water and they basically pour the water on the girl and while she is standing in the garden wet and shivering from the cold, they are whipping her with a scourge. So at the end of the day, the poor girl is out of dry clothes and she has bruises all over her body. No, just kidding, it doesn’t hurt much and the water is a symbol for girls to stay healthy and beautiful for the upcoming year! Since the girls are grateful and believe this will protect them against every kind of illness, they give boys money and chocolate eggs. In the past, the girls used to give boys homemade painted Easter eggs but nowadays we prefer the chocolate ones. Do you think we are crazy? No, we actually like these holidays and stick to our traditions.

Article by Annamária Košútová