The Traditional Way of Celebrating December 24th in Dubrovnik, Croatia
The city of Dubrovnik holds beautiful traditions that its citizens strongly support and keep from being forgotten. One of the traditions that lives with the city is a traditional celebration of Christmas that starts on the morning of December 24th. Thousands of locals gather in the Old Town of Dubrovnik, beautifully dressed, with men wearing their best suits and women often wearing the most recent trends in fashion. Friends and relatives are reunited over traditional drinks and Croatian doughnuts flavored with brandy and lemon, followed by with the joyful greeting of “Nazdravlje” which translates to “Cheers”. The proper way to do it is to replace the word “Hello” with “Nazdravlje” for that whole day.
Carols are sung, congratulations are given, and toasts are made. In the churches of Dubrovnik, small models of Bethlehem are a must, which families with kids tend to visit and give a little prayer or donation if possible. Throughout the Old City of Dubrovnik, you can hear the traditional Dubrovnik carol “Kolenda”, which carolers usually sing in front of the Church of Saint Blaise and then in front of the City Hall. Following the caroling, the mayor of Dubrovnik gives a toast usually welcoming everyone, and remembering those who are in need and those who would be warmed by a nice word. He wishes all fellow citizens a merry and blessed Christmas.
Dubrovnik on Christmas Eve
It is traditional to continue cruising along the main street – Stradun - to look for familiar faces to catch up and wish them a Merry Christmas. These encounters usually end with a toast of traditional Dubrovnik liqueurs from the nearest café bars on Stradun Street. The Old Town is full of beauty, song, and joy. That is exactly how December 24th should be like.
It is an unwritten rule that as soon as noon hits, friends and families slowly start saying their goodbyes to each other and head for a delicious lunch at their grandparents' house. Croatia is mostly a Catholic county, so Christmas holidays begin with fasting on December 24th and replacing meats with fish, specifically codfish. Whatever you do with codfish, you can't go wrong - boil it and bake it with potatoes or tomatoes, pound it, put it together, mix it and cook it in soup, serve it in white sauce with potatoes and garlic or red sauce, you pick. It's a beautiful and traditional dish that citizens of Dubrovnik eat on December 24th. In our city, it has become an obligatory tradition for two reasons: a reminder of the history of our fishermen and those who experienced poverty, and the time of communism, when national and religious identity was not allowed to be celebrated publicly. Due to that, the smell of cooked cod spreads through the streets, villages, and towns during Christmas. What started as a certain kind of resistance became a cultural asset of the city of Dubrovnik.
Croatian Christmas meal
After our bellies are full, everyone slowly returns to their homes to rest, wrap up gifts and prepare for the arrival of the carolers. December 24th is also when families put up their Christmas tree and bring out all the wonderful decorations to arrange a warm atmosphere in their living room. The evening is mostly reserved for spending time with our family and welcoming the carolers from the neighborhood.
Around 11 pm, friends and families gather and head to church for midnight mass. After Holy Mass and prayers, in the spirit of Christmas filled with peace and love, younger kids and parents return home. However, the night is not over yet for the young people - it has actually just started. Clubs and bars are full of song and joy until the early morning hours. Some revelers may even get a text from their mom asking to buy fresh bread from the bakery on their way home!
That's how our Old Town Dubrovnik celebrates December 24th, filled with tradition and love despite the modern ways and technologies we are surrounded by daily. So, Cheers to the Christmas holidays! No city in the world celebrates it like our city, Dubrovnik!
Paulina Hudspeth is a graduate of Saunders College of Business. Originally from Dubrovnik, she spent two years studying at the RIT Croatia Zagreb campus and two years at RIT in Rochester.