Today, January 7, is the Russian Orthodox Christmas and so I stopped in at the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin here in Tashkent. It was built in 1871 and has been remodeled and improved over the years. I went around 12:00 noon and there was a steady flow of people coming in to light candles and pray. There was no service taking place when I went. People were coming and going, and sales of cakes, bread, honey, and religious icons were brisk outside of the cathedral. I noticed that many Russian women cover their heads when entering the church. Orthodox churches are beautiful and designed to be awe-inspiring and the cathedral here in Tashkent is no exception. It is a beautiful place, with a main hall and two side halls that can also be used for a service. 12% of Christians worldwide are Orthodox and they use the Julian calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar. The Julian Calendar (named after Julius Ceasar) was the main world calendar from 45 BC to 1582 AD. The Julian calendar gains 3 days every 400 years. The Gregorian calendar promulgated by Pope Gregory is more accurate and takes away this drift. The Orthodox Church still uses the Julian Calendar, probably because the Catholics adopted it right away. It is only a religious calendar and the Russians here use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes.
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