Did you know what was served on the festive Christmas table of the Lavra brethren at the turn of the 18th-19^th centuries?

The Christmas feast was preceded by Christmas fast, during which the daily menu of the brethren meal invariably consisted of two dishes: porridge and fish.

Five dishes were served for the festive meal. Four of them were to be fish, two dishes of fresh fish, one of beluga, and one of dried fish. In addition, the monks were treated to pressed caviar with white bread. As for the fifth dish, it was usually halusky.

The festive mood of the Lavra monks at the Christmas meal was completed with flavorful notes of drinks: grape wine, sweet vodka, and mead.

Natalia Lytvyn

Captions to illustrations:
Fig. 1. Vasyl Vereshagin (?). Nativity of Christ. Sketch of the mural painting in the Great Pechersk Church (Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra) 1894–1901. Photograph of the early 20th century (From the fund collection of National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”, inv. № KPL-N-848)