Đurđevdan

Đurđevdan (Ђурђевдан, pronounced [ˈdʑuːrdʑeʋdaːn], "George's day" in Serbian, Gergyovden "George's day" in Bulgarian, Jurjevo "George's" in Croatian and Bosnian or Gjurgjuvden (Ѓурѓовден) in Macedonian, is a South-Slavic religious holiday, celebrated on April 23 by the Julian calendar (May 6 by Gregorian calendar), which is the feast of Saint George and a very important Slava.

Significance

Saint George is one of the most important Christian saints in Orthodox churches: the patron saint of Slav, Georgian and Circassian Christian warriors, Cossacks, Chetniks, and armies. This holiday is attached to the tradition of celebrating the beginning of spring. Christian synaxaria hold that St. George was a martyr who died for his faith. On icons, he is usually depicted as a man riding a horse and killing a dragon.

Jurjevo is mainly celebrated in the rural areas of Croatia, mostly Turopolje and Gornja Stubica whereas every Đurđevdan is celebrated all over the Serbian diaspora but mainly in Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia Herzegovina and Macedonia. In Croatian St. George is called Sv. Juraj while in Serbian he's called Sveti Đorđe (Serbian Cyrillic: Свети Ђорђе), in Bulgarian Sveti Georgi (Cyrillic: Свети Георги) and in Macedonian Sv. Gjorgjija (Ѓорѓија).