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And this winter usually starts in Greece and usually in the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (12/21) at noon. At 12:02 Greek time, the Sun will be on the winter solstice and so winter officially begins.
The winter solstice, which is the longest night of the year, coincides with the rare heavenly “kiss” of Jupiter and Saturn and the Arctic, according to the Athenian-Macedonian news agency.
When the Sun reaches its autumnal equator in September, day and night are roughly equal, but then night gradually increases at the expense of day. When the Sun passes the winter solstice, it begins to rise higher and higher in the sky again, with the result that the day regains the lost “ground”, until at the spring equinox light and darkness again last. almost equal.
The winter solstice does not always “fall” on the same date, but oscillates between December 20 and 23, with the most likely dates being December 21 and 22. The last time the winter solstice fell on December 23 it was in 1903 and will not happen again before 2303. These calendar fluctuations are due to the Gregorian calendar.
The winter solstice no longer occurs on December 25, as in the time of Christ, but a little earlier, because the oldest Julian Calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 44 BC. C., has been replaced. and that he had set the winter solstice on December 25, but missed one day every 128 years. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar, named after him (Gregorian), which loses only one day in its 4,000 years.
The Sun was worshiped by the ancients as a god and almost all ancient peoples established various festivals in his honor, from the Scandinavians and Iranians to the Mayans and Incas. Almost everywhere, the most important celebrations took place during the winter solstice, which was considered the celebration of the birth of the Sun, which also marked the beginning of the new year. Prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge in Britain are believed to have been associated with recording the movements of the Sun in the sky.
For the Romans, the celebration of the “invincible Sun” on December 25 was fundamental, when it was celebrated that the Sun began to rise in the sky again and thus the days grew. The first Christians of Rome, who secretly went to its catacombs, decided to celebrate the birth of Christ on the same date, December 25, when the Romans celebrated their own festivals of Saturnalia.
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