1.
Marzipan pig
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The marzipan pig is a traditional German and Scandinavian confectionery consisting of marzipan shaped as a pig. During Jul, a tradition is to eat porridge known as Risalamande, whoever finds the almond receives a marzipan pig as a prize. In Germany, marzipan pigs are given at New Years for good luck, the Marzipan Pig is a childrens book by Russell Hoban. The story was filmed as one of the HBO Storybook Musicals and it was also on the list of programs broadcast by ABC Television. Posankka is a hybrid marzipan pig–rubber ducky statue in Turku, Finland near the University of Turku
2.
Confectionery
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Confectionery, also called sweets or candy, is sweet food. The term varies among English-speaking countries, in general, though, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories, bakers confections and sugar confections. Bakers confectionery, also called flour confections, includes principally sweet pastries, cakes, in the Middle East and Asia, flour-based confections are more dominant. Sugar confectionery includes sweets, candied nuts, chocolates, chewing gum and bubblegum, sweetmeats, pastillage, in some cases, chocolate confections are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of sugar confections. The words candy, sweets, and lollies are common words for the most common varieties of sugar confectionery, the confectionery industry also includes specialized training schools and extensive historical records. Traditional confectionery goes back to ancient times, and continued to be eaten through the Middle Ages into the modern era, generally, confections are low in micronutrients and protein but high in calories. They may be fat-free foods, although some confections, especially fried doughs, are high-fat foods, many confections are considered empty calories. Specially formulated chocolate has been manufactured in the past for use as a high-density food energy source. Confections are defined by the presence of sweeteners and these are usually sugars, but it is possible to buy sugar-free sweets, such as sugar-free peppermints. The most common sweetener for cooking is table sugar, which is chemically a disaccharide containing both glucose and fructose. Hydrolysis of sucrose gives a mixture called invert sugar, which is sweeter and is also a commercial ingredient. Finally confections, especially commercial ones, are sweetened by a variety of syrups obtained by hydrolysis of starch and these sweeteners include all types of corn syrup. Bakers confectionery includes sweet baked goods, especially those that are served for the dessert course, bakers confections are sweet foods that feature flour as a main ingredient and are baked. Major categories include cakes, sweet pastries, doughnuts, scones, Sugar confections include sweet, sugar-based foods, which are usually eaten as snack food. This includes sugar candies, chocolates, candied fruits and nuts, chewing gum, in the European Union, the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community scheme matches the UN classification, under code number 10.82. Ice cream and sorbet are classified with dairy products under ISIC1050, NACE10.52, different dialects of English use regional terms for sugar confections, In Britain, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries, sweets or, more colloquially, sweeties. In Australia and New Zealand, lollies, chewy and Chuddy are Australian slang for chewing gum. In North America, candy, although this generally refers to a specific range of confectionery
3.
Almond meal
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Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond is made from ground sweet almonds. Almond flour is made with blanched almonds, whereas almond meal can be made both with whole or blanched almonds. The consistency is more like corn meal than wheat flour, in France, almond meal is an important ingredient in frangipane, the filling of traditional galette des Rois cake. Almond meal has recently become important in baking items for those on low carbohydrate diets and it adds moistness and a rich nutty taste to baked goods. Items baked with almond meal tend to be calorie-dense, almonds have high levels of polyunsaturated fats in them. Typically, the omega 6 fatty acids in almonds are protected from oxidation by the skin and vitamin E. When almonds are ground, this skin is broken and exposed surface area increases dramatically, greatly enhancing the nuts tendency to oxidize
4.
Sugar
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Sugar is the generic name for sweet, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. There are various types of derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose, fructose, the table sugar or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. Sugar is used in prepared foods and it is added to some foods, in the body, sucrose is hydrolysed into the simple sugars fructose and glucose. Other disaccharides include maltose from malted grain, and lactose from milk, longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. Some other chemical substances, such as glycerol may also have a sweet taste, low-calorie food substitutes for sugar, described as artificial sweeteners, include aspartame and sucralose, a chlorinated derivative of sucrose. Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants and are present in sufficient concentrations for efficient commercial extraction in sugarcane, the world production of sugar in 2011 was about 168 million tonnes. The average person consumes about 24 kilograms of sugar each year, equivalent to over 260 food calories per person, since the latter part of the twentieth century, it has been questioned whether a diet high in sugars, especially refined sugars, is good for human health. Sugar has been linked to obesity, and suspected of, or fully implicated as a cause in the occurrence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, macular degeneration, the etymology reflects the spread of the commodity. The English word sugar ultimately originates from the Sanskrit शर्करा, via Arabic سكر as granular or candied sugar, the contemporary Italian word is zucchero, whereas the Spanish and Portuguese words, azúcar and açúcar, respectively, have kept a trace of the Arabic definite article. The Old French word is zuchre and the contemporary French, sucre, the earliest Greek word attested is σάκχαρις. The English word jaggery, a brown sugar made from date palm sap or sugarcane juice, has a similar etymological origin – Portuguese jagara from the Sanskrit शर्करा. Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times and it was not plentiful or cheap in early times and honey was more often used for sweetening in most parts of the world. Originally, people chewed raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness, sugarcane was a native of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. Different species seem to have originated from different locations with Saccharum barberi originating in India and S. edule, one of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 8th century BC that state that the use of sugarcane originated in India. Sugar was found in Europe by the 1st century AD, but only as an imported medicine and it is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut, sugar is used only for medical purposes. Sugar remained relatively unimportant until the Indians discovered methods of turning sugarcane juice into granulated crystals that were easier to store, crystallized sugar was discovered by the time of the Imperial Guptas, around the 5th century AD
5.
Honey
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Honey /ˈhʌni/ is a sugary food substance produced and stored by certain social hymenopteran insects. It is produced from the secretions of plants or insects, such as floral nectar or aphid honeydew, through regurgitation, enzymatic activity. The variety of honey produced by bees is the most well-known, due to its worldwide commercial production. Honey gets its sweetness from the monosaccharides fructose and glucose, and has about the relative sweetness as granulated sugar. It has attractive properties for baking and a distinctive flavor that leads some people to prefer it to sugar. Most microorganisms do not grow in honey, so sealed honey does not spoil, however, honey sometimes contains dormant endospores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can be dangerous to babies, as it may result in botulism. People who have an immune system should not eat honey because of the risk of bacterial or fungal infection. Although some evidence indicates honey may be effective in treating diseases and other conditions, such as wounds and burns. Providing 64 calories in a serving of one tablespoon equivalent to 1272 kj per 100 g. Honey is generally safe, but may have various, potential adverse effects or interactions with excessive consumption, existing disease conditions, or drugs. Honey use and production have a long and varied history as an ancient activity, depicted in Valencia, in cold weather or when other food sources are scarce, adult and larval bees use stored honey as food. By contriving for bee swarms to nest in man-made hives, people have been able to semidomesticate the insects, Bee digestive enzymes - invertase, amylase, and diastase - and gastric acid hydrolyze sucrose to a mixture of glucose and fructose. The bees work together as a group with the regurgitation and digestion for as long as 20 minutes until the product reaches storage quality. It is then placed in honeycomb cells left unsealed while still high in content and natural yeasts. The bees then cap the cells with wax to seal them, as removed from the hive by a beekeeper, honey has a long shelf life and will not ferment if properly sealed. Another source of honey is from a number of species, such as the wasps Brachygastra lecheguana and Brachygastra mellifica. These species are known to feed on nectar and produce honey, Honey is collected from wild bee colonies, or from domesticated beehives. The honey is stored in honeycombs, wild bee nests are sometimes located by following a honeyguide bird
6.
Chocolate
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Chocolate /ˈtʃɒklᵻt, -kəlᵻt/ is a typically sweet, usually brown food preparation of Theobroma cacao seeds, roasted and ground. It is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, Cacao has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Mokaya, with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BCE, the seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted, the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by heating, it is called chocolate liquor, the liquor also may be cooled and processed into its two components, cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Baking chocolate, also called chocolate, contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or added vegetable oils. Milk chocolate is chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, Cocoa solids are a source of flavonoids and alkaloids, such as theobromine, phenethylamine and caffeine. Many candies are filled with or coated with sweetened chocolate, and bars of solid chocolate, Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain Western holidays, such as Easter and Valentines Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages such as milk and hot chocolate and in some alcoholic drinks. Although cocoa originated in the Americas, recent years have seen African nations assuming a role in producing cocoa. Since the 2000s, Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of the worlds cocoa, in 2009, the Salvation Army International Development Department stated that child labor and the human trafficking and slavery of child laborers are used in African cocoa cultivation. The word chocolate entered the English language from Spanish in about 1600, how the word came into Spanish is less certain, and there are competing explanations. The word chocolatl does not occur in central Mexican colonial sources, another derivation comes from the Yucatec Mayan word chokol meaning hot, and the Nahuatl atl meaning water. The Nahuatl term, chicolatl, meaning beaten drink, may derive from the word for the frothing stick, the term chocolate chip was first used in 1940. The term chocolatier, for a chocolate maker, is attested from 1888. Chocolate has been prepared as a drink for all of its history
7.
Cake
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Cake is a form of sweet dessert that is typically baked. Typical cake ingredients are flour, sugar, eggs, butter or oil, a liquid, common additional ingredients and flavourings include dried, candied, or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa, and extracts such as vanilla, with numerous substitutions for the primary ingredients. Cakes can also be filled with preserves or dessert sauces, iced with buttercream or other icings. Cake is often served as a dish on ceremonial occasions, such as weddings, anniversaries. There are countless cake recipes, some are bread-like, some are rich and elaborate, the term cake has a long history. The word itself is of Viking origin, from the Old Norse word kaka, the ancient Greeks called cake πλακοῦς, which was derived from the word for flat, πλακόεις. It was baked using flour mixed with eggs, milk, nuts and they also had a cake called “satura”, which was a flat heavy cake. During the Roman period, the name for cake became “placenta” which was derived from the Greek term, placenta were baked on a pastry base or inside a pastry case The Greeks invented beer as a leavener, frying fritters in olive oil, and cheesecakes using goats milk. In ancient Rome, basic bread dough was sometimes enriched with butter, eggs, and honey, latin poet Ovid refers his and his brothers birthday party and cake in his first book of exile, Tristia. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, during the Great Depression, there was a surplus of molasses and the need to provide easily made food to millions of economically depressed people in the United States. One company patented a cake-bread mix in order to deal with this economic situation, in so doing, cake as it is known today became a mass-produced good rather than a home- or bakery-made specialty. Later, during the boom, other American companies developed this idea further, marketing cake mix on the principle of convenience. When sales dropped heavily in the 1950s, marketers discovered that the cake in a box rendered the cake-making function of housewives relatively dispiriting, in order to compensate for this situation, the marketing psychologist Ernest Dichter ushered in the solution to the cake mix problem, frosting. Ever since, cake in a box has become a staple of supermarkets, Cakes are broadly divided into several categories, based primarily on ingredients and mixing techniques. Although clear examples of the difference between cake and bread are easy to find, the classification has always been elusive. For example, banana bread may be considered either a quick bread or a cake. Butter cakes are made from creamed butter, sugar, eggs and they rely on the combination of butter and sugar beaten for an extended time to incorporate air into the batter. A classic pound cake is made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder is in many butter cakes, such as Victoria sponge
8.
Wedding cake
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A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In modern Western culture, the cake is usually on display, traditionally, wedding cakes were made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Modernly however, they are more of a centerpiece to the wedding and are not always served to the guests. Some cakes are built only a single edible tier for the bride. Wedding cakes come in a variety of sizes, depending on the number of guests the cake will serve, modern pastry chefs and cake designers use various ingredients and tools to create a cake that usually reflects the personalities of the couple. Marzipan, fondant, gum paste, buttercream, and chocolate are among the ingredients used. Cakes range in price along with size and components, Cakes are usually priced on a per-person, or per-slice, basis. Prices can range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars per-person or slice, Wedding cakes and cake decorating in general have become a certain pop culture symbol in western society. In America, TV shows such as Cake Boss or Amazing Wedding Cakes have become popular and are trending in today’s popular culture, Wedding cake was originally a luxury item, and a sign of celebration and social status. The bigger the cake, the higher the social standing, Wedding cakes in England and early America were traditionally fruit cakes, often topped with marzipan and icing with tiers, Cutting the cake was an important part of the reception. Today, many flavors and configurations are available in addition to the traditional tiered cake. The contemporary wedding cake has grown out of different ethnic traditions. One of the first traditions began in Ancient Rome where bread was broken over the head to bring good fortune to the couple. Cakes were not yet invented at that time, so they used a loaf of freshly baked of barley bread to do the tradition. The guests who attended the wedding would take part by taking a piece of the broken wedding cake in hopes that they would also get good luck. The custom of breaking the cake was mostly necessary at that time since they believed it would benefit, Brides mostly had to participate to ensure that her children would have good fortune. A successful kiss meant they were guaranteed a life together. From this the Croquembouche was created, the pastry chef then went back to France and piled sweet rolls up into a tower to make the first Croquembouche
9.
Christmas cake
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Christmas cake is a type of fruitcake served at Christmas time in many countries. If a Christmas cake is covered in icing, it is common for it to be decorated - models of houses. A particular favourite of many is the traditional Scottish Christmas cake, as the name implies, the cake originated in Dundee and is made with Scotch whisky. It is a light and crumbly cake, and light on fruit and candied peel—only currants, raisins, sultanas and this Christmas cake is particularly good for people who dont like very rich and moist cakes. Coins were also added to Christmas cakes as well as Christmas puddings as good luck touch pieces. The usual choices were silver 3d piece, or sixpences, sometimes wrapped in greaseproof paper packages, in Yorkshire, Christmas cake, as with other types of fruit cake, can be eaten with cheese, such as Wensleydale. A cake that may also be served at Christmas time in the United Kingdom, in addition to the traditional Christmas cake, is the known as a Yule Log. This is a Swiss roll that is coated in chocolate, resembling a log, in the United States, some people give fruitcakes as gifts at Christmas time, but they are not called Christmas cakes. In the neighbouring country of Canada, however, such an item is labelled a Christmas cake, in India, Christmas cakes are traditionally a fruit cake with many variants. Allahabadi cake is famous for its taste and texture. In Japan, Christmas cakes are eaten on Christmas Eve. They are simply a sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream, often decorated with strawberries, and usually topped with Christmas chocolates or other fruits. Christmas cakes of this style were released by Fujiya, and was popularized when they began sales at Ginza. This was during the time when Japan was going through massive waves of Westernization, members of the upper class, who had a strong penchant for Western cultures in general, enjoyed Western style desserts as a delicacy. Thus, being a Western style dessert, Christmas cakes were associated with the idea of Western modernity, therefore, it was a major hit when the Christmas cakes were commercialized and became more affordable to the general public. As Christmas in Japan developed as a commercial event, competition among confectionery stores got intense. The Christmas cakes today are symbolized as a ritual of Christmas celebration, specifically, in the Philippines, Christmas cakes are bright rich yellow pound cakes with macerated nuts or fruitcakes of the British fashion. Both are soaked in copious amounts of brandy or rum mixed with a syrup of palm sugar
10.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
11.
Fruitcake
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Fruitcake is a cake made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and soaked in spirits. A cake that simply has fruit in it as an ingredient can also be called a fruit cake. In the United Kingdom, certain versions may be iced and decorated. Fruit cakes are served in celebration of weddings and Christmas. Given their rich nature, fruit cake is most often consumed on its own, the earliest recipe from ancient Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into barley mash. In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added, Fruit cakes soon proliferated all over Europe. Recipes varied greatly in different countries throughout the ages, depending on the ingredients as well as church regulations forbidding the use of butter. Starting in the 16th century, sugar from the American Colonies created an excess of candied fruit, thus making fruit cakes more affordable, in Australia, fruit cake is consumed throughout the year, and is available at most major retail outlets. The cake is eaten with icing or condiments. In the Bahamas, not only is the fruit cake drenched with rum, all of the candied fruits, walnuts, and raisins are placed in an enclosed container and are soaked with the darkest variety of rum, anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months in advance. The cake ingredients are mixed, and once the cake has finished baking, in Bulgaria, the common fruit cake is known as keks, is home-made and is consumed throughout the year. Recipes for keks vary, but commonly it contains flour, butter and/or cooking oil, milk, yeast, yoghurt, eggs, cocoa, walnuts and it is usually baked in Bundt-style pan. There is also another type of fruit cake prepared for Easter. The fruit cake is known as a Christmas Cake in Canada. Rarely is it seen during times of the year. The Canadian fruit cake is similar in style to the UK version, however, there is rarely icing on the cake and alcohol is not commonly put in Christmas cakes that are sold. The cakes also tend to be void of any decorations and are shaped like a loaf of bread. Dark, moist and rich Christmas cakes are the most frequently consumed and these cakes tend to be made in mid-November to early December when the weather starts to cool down
12.
Almond paste
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Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar in equal quantities, with small amounts of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added as a binder. Almond paste is used as a filling in pastries, but it can also be found in chocolates, in commercially manufactured almond paste, ground apricot or peach kernels are sometimes added to keep the cost down. Almond paste is used as a filling in pastries of many different cultures and it is a chief ingredient of the American bear claw pastry. In Scandinavia almond paste is used extensively, in various pastries and cookies, in Sweden it is used in biscuits, muffins and buns and as a filling in the traditional spring season pastry semla and is used in Easter and Christmas sweets. In Denmark, almond paste is used in pastries, for example as a filling in the Danish traditional pastry kringle. In the Netherlands, almond paste is used in gevulde speculaas and it is used as filling in the fruited Christmas bread Kerststol, traditionally eaten at Christmas breakfast. In Germany, almond paste is used in pastries and sweets. In the German language, almond paste is known as Marzipanrohmasse and sold for example as Lübecker Edelmarzipan, Almond paste is the main ingredient of French traditional calisson candy in Aix-en-Provence. It is used as a filling in almond croissants, the Chinese use almond paste in sweetheart cakes. The sweetheart cake or wife cake is a traditional Chinese pastry made with winter melon, in Turkey, almond paste is traditionally made in Edirne, once the capital of Ottoman Empire. During the Ottoman era of Turkish history, it was a royal delight mostly used in palace and it is now sold at delight shops in Istanbul and Edirne. Rainbow cookie Marzipan Parsi Almond Fish
13.
Stollen
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Stollen is a fruit bread containing dried fruit and often covered with powdered sugar or icing sugar. The bread is made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts. Stollen is a traditional German bread usually eaten during the Christmas season, Stollen is a cake like fruit bread made with yeast, water and flour, and usually with zest added to the dough. Candied orange peel and candied peel, raisins and almonds. Other ingredients, such as milk, sugar, butter, salt, rum, eggs, vanilla, other dried fruits and nuts, except for the fruit added, the dough is quite low in sugar. The finished bread is sprinkled with icing sugar, the traditional weight of Stollen is around 2.0 kg, but smaller sizes are now available. However, because it is slathered with melted unsalted butter and rolled in sugar as soon as it comes out of the oven, it results in a much better-keeping, the marzipan rope in the middle is optional. The dried fruits are macerated in rum or brandy for a superior tasting bread, Dresden Stollen is produced in the city of Dresden and distinguished by a special seal depicting King Augustus II the Strong. This official Stollen is produced by only 150 Dresden bakers, early Stollen was different, with the ingredients being flour, oats and water. As a Christmas bread stollen was baked for the first time at the Council of Trent in 1545, the Advent season was a time of fasting, and bakers were not allowed to use butter, only oil, and the cake was tasteless and hard. In the 15th century, in medieval Saxony, the Prince Elector Ernst, the Saxon bakers needed to use butter, as oil in Saxony was expensive, hard to come by, and had to be made from turnips. Pope Nicholas V, in 1450denied the first appeal, others were also permitted to use butter, but on the condition of having to pay annually 1/20th of a gold Gulden to support the building of the Freiberg Minster. The ban on butter was removed when Saxony became Protestant, every year Stollenfest takes place in Dresden. This historical tradition ended only in 1918 with the fall of the monarchy, and started again in 1994, Dresden’s Christmas market, the Striezelmarkt, was mentioned in the chronicles for the first time in 1474. The tradition of baking Christmas Stollen in Dresden is very old, Christmas Stollen in Dresden was already baked in the 15th century. In 1560, the bakers of Dresden offered the rulers of Saxony Christmas Stollen weighing 36 pounds each as gift, Augustus II the Strong was the Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. The King loved pomp, luxury, splendour and feasts, in 1730, he impressed his subjects, ordering the Bakers’ Guild of Dresden to make a giant 1. 7-tonne Stollen, big enough for everyone to have a portion to eat. There were around 24,000 guests who were taking part in the festivities on the occasion of the legendary amusement festivity known as Zeithainer Lustlager, for this special occasion, the court architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, built a particularly oversized Stollen oven
14.
Banket (food)
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Marzipan, an almond paste prepared with almond meal and honey or sugar, is sometimes used as the filling. The Dutch letter has a porous or airy and flaky texture, the pastry was originally shaped into the initial of the familys surname. The pastrys name is a version of the Dutch word banketletter. They may also be called banketstaven and letterbanket by Dutch people, in the Netherlands letterbanket are traditionally eaten on Sinterklaasavond on December 5, where they are shaped in the initials of family members. Dutch letters were introduced in the United States by Dutch immigrants, and originated in Pella, Iowa, Dutch letters are a common treat at the annual Tulip Festival in Pella, Iowa, and may be prepared by local residents and sold at various local churches. Dutch letters prepared with chocolate are eaten as part of the activities during the Holland Dutch Winterfest in Holland. Dutch cuisine List of cookies List of pastries
15.
New Year's Day
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New Years Day, also called simply New Years or New Year, is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar. In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, other global New Years Day traditions include making New Years resolutions and calling ones friends and family. Mesopotamia instituted the concept of celebrating the new year in 2000 BC, celebrated new year around the time of the vernal equinox, the early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the new year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March and that the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through December, our ninth through twelfth months, were positioned as the seventh through tenth months. Roman legend usually credited their second king Numa with the establishment of the months of January and February and these were first placed at the end of the year, but at some point came to be considered the first two months instead. The January Kalends came to be celebrated as the new year at some point after it became the day for the new consuls in 153 BC. Romans had long dated their years by these consulships, rather than sequentially, still, private and religious celebrations around the March new year continued for some time and there is no consensus on the question of the timing for January 1s new status. Once it became the new year, however, it became a time for family gatherings, in AD567, the Council of Tours formally abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. These days were also astronomically and astrologically significant since, at the time of the Julian reform, March 25 had been understood as the spring equinox and December 25 as the winter solstice. Medieval calendars nonetheless often continued to display the months running from January to December, among the 7th century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands, it was the custom to exchange gifts on the first day of the new year. This custom was deplored by Saint Eligius, who warned the Flemish and Dutch, make vetulas, little deer or iotticos or set tables at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks. Because of the leap year error in the Julian calendar, the date of Easter had drifted backward since the First Council of Nicaea decided the computation of the date of Easter in 325, by the sixteenth century, the drift from the observed equinox had become unacceptable. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII declared the Gregorian calendar widely used today, the Gregorian calendar reform also restored January 1 as New Years Day. Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was gradually adopted among Protestant countries. The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752, until then, the British Empire – and its American colonies – still celebrated the new year on 25 March. Most nations of Western Europe officially adopted 1 January as New Years Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian Calendar, in Tudor England, New Years Day, along with Christmas Day and Twelfth Night, was celebrated as one of three main festivities among the twelve days of Christmastide. There, until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, Pope Gregory acknowledged 1 January as the beginning of the new year according to his reform of the Catholic Liturgical Calendar
16.
Tortell
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Tortell, or Gâteau des Rois is a Catalan and Occitan pastry typically O-shaped, usually stuffed with marzipan or whipped cream, that on some special occasions is topped with glazed fruit. It is traditionally eaten on January 6, at the conclusion of the Twelve Days of Christmas and this is also known as the day of the Three Wise Men according to the Catholic liturgical calendar. The tortell de Reis contains two hidden surprises, a dried field bean, and a figurine of one of the three kings. The person who gets the figurine in their cut gets to wear the paper crown, the person who gets the dried fava bean in their cut has to pay for the tortell. Variants of this pastry are also popular in places in Spain where it is known as roscón de Reyes. In Provence the one who gets the dried field bean gets to wear the crown and is the king for the day. A similar tradition in and around New Orleans, Louisiana is the cake while in Mexico there is a very similar dish called rosca de reyes. Primarily subhead Popular Merrymaking under Liturgy and Custom, Christmas Trivia edited by Jennie Miller Helderman, Mary Caulkins. Peter Pauper Press,2002 Bowler, Gerry, mcClelland & Stewart,2004 Collins, Ace. Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas
17.
King cake
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What started out roughly 300 years ago as a dry French bread–type dough with sugar on top and a bean inside now comes in many varieties depending on the country. Some king cakes are made of a sweet brioche dough in the shape of a circle with a glazed topping sprinkled with colored sugar. Hundreds of thousands of King Cakes are eaten in New Orleans during the Carnival season, in other countries, king cakes are made with a puff pastry, filled with one of several fillings, and have a small figurine hidden inside. The figurine changes from bakery to bakery and often represents a hit movie or other cultural icon, the cake often has a small plastic baby inside or underneath, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations. The king cake takes its name from the biblical kings, in Western Christian liturgical tradition, the Solemnity of Epiphany—commemorated on January 6—celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. The Eve of Epiphany is popularly known as Twelfth Night, the season for king cake extends from the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, up until the end of Shrovetide, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent. Some organizations or groups of friends may have king cake parties every week through the Carnival season, in Portugal and France, whoever gets the King cake trinket is expected to buy the next cake for these get-togethers. It is a food item during the Christmas season in Belgium, France, Quebec and Switzerland, Portugal, Spain and Latin America and, Greece and Cyprus. In these regions, the cake is closely associated with Mardi Gras traditions and is served throughout the Carnival season. The King Cake tradition is thought to have brought to New Orleans from France in 1870. Now, as part of the celebration, it is traditional to bake a cake in honor of the three kings, the official colors of Mardi Gras – created in 1872 by the Krewe of Rex – are purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. Related culinary traditions are the tortell of Catalonia, the gâteau des Rois or reiaume in Provence or the galette des Rois in the half of France. The galette des Rois is made with pastry and frangipane. A little bean was hidden in it, a custom taken from the Saturnalia in the Roman Empire. In the galette des Rois, since 1870 the beans have been replaced first by porcelain, after that my wife and I bid adieu and came home, it being still a great frost. The choosing of King and Queen from the pie, usually by the inclusion of a bean, the cake was called a Twelfth Cake, Twelfth-night cake, or Twelfth-tide cake. The cake traditionally celebrating Epiphany in France and Quebec is sold in most bakeries during the month of January, in the west of France a sablé galette is made, a form of sweetcrust pastry. This later version is common to Spain and very similar to New-Orleans king cake
18.
Carnival
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Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide. Carnival typically involves a public celebration and/or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks, people wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common, the term Carnival is traditionally used in areas with a large Catholic presence. However, the Philippines, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, does not celebrate Carnival anymore since the dissolution of the Manila Carnival after 1939, in Slavic Eastern Orthodox nations, Maslenitsa is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent. In German-speaking Europe and the Netherlands, the Carnival season traditionally opens on 11/11 and this dates back to celebrations before the Advent season or with harvest celebrations of St. Martins Day. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is the biggest in the world, followed jointly by Barranquilla, Colombia, alternative names are used for regional and local celebrations. The origin may be from the Italian word carne or carrus, the former suggests an origin within Christianity, while the alternative links to earlier religions. Folk etymologies state that the word comes from the Late Latin expression carne vale, the word carne may also be translated as flesh, producing a farewell to the flesh, a phrase embraced by certain carnival celebrants to embolden the festivals carefree spirit. However, this interpretation is not supported by philological evidence, the Italian carne levare is one possible origin, meaning to remove meat, since meat is prohibited during Lent. Other scholars argue for the origin from the Roman name for the festival of the Navigium Isidis, the festival consisted of a parade of masks following an adorned wooden boat, possibly source of the floats. From the anthropological point of view, carnival is a ritual, in which social roles are reversed. Winter was thought of as the reign of the winter spirits, Carnival can thus be regarded as a rite of passage from darkness to light, from winter to summer, a fertility celebration, the first spring festival of the new year. Traditionally, a carnival feast was the last opportunity for people to eat well. Until spring produce was available, people were limited to the necessary meals during this period. On what nowadays is called vastenavond, all the winter stores of lard, butter. The selected livestock had already been slaughtered in November and the meat would be no longer preservable, all the food that had survived the winter had to be eaten to assure that everyone was fed enough to survive until the coming spring would provide new food sources. Several Germanic tribes celebrated the returning of the daylight, the winter would be driven out, to make sure that fertility could return in spring
19.
Princess cake
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A princess cake is a traditional Swedish layer cake or torte consisting of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, pastry cream, and a thick-domed layer of whipped cream. This is topped by marzipan, giving the cake a smooth rounded top, the marzipan overlay is usually green, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and often decorated with a pink marzipan rose. The original recipe first appeared in the 1948 Prinsessornas Kokbok cookbook, which was published by Jenny Åkerström, the cake was originally called grön tårta, but was given the name prinsesstårta or princess cake because the princesses were said to have been especially fond of the cake. The princesses were Princess Margaretha, Princess Märtha, and Princess Astrid, the cake is widely featured in Tom McNeals book Far Far Away. Variants with other colours of marzipan are occasionally called prinstårta for blue marzipan, Swedish cuisine Frog cake, a broadly similar Australian dessert List of cakes
20.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
21.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
22.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
23.
Toledo, Spain
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Toledo is a city and municipality located in central Spain, it is the capital of the province of Toledo and the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its cultural and monumental heritage and historical co-existence of Christian, Muslim. Toledo has a history in the production of bladed weapons, which are now popular souvenirs of the city, people who were born or have lived in Toledo include Brunhilda of Austrasia, Al-Zarqali, Garcilaso de la Vega, Eleanor of Toledo, Alfonso X and El Greco. It was also the place of important historic events such as the Visigothic Councils of Toledo, as of 2015, the city has a population of 83,226 and an area of 232.1 km2. The town was granted arms in the 16th century, which by special royal privilege was based on the royal of arms of Spain, Toledo is mentioned by the Roman historian Livy as urbs parva, sed loco munita. At that time, Toletum was a city of the Carpetani tribe and it was incorporated into the Roman Empire as a civitas stipendiaria, that is, a tributary city of non-citizens. It later achieved the status of municipium by Flavian times, with this status, city officials, even of Carpetani origin, obtained Roman citizenship for public service, and the forms of Roman law and politics were increasingly adopted. At approximately this time were constructed in Toletum a Roman circus, city walls, public baths, and a municipal water supply and storage system. The Roman circus in Toledo was one of the largest in Hispania, at 423 metres long and 100 metres wide, chariot races were held on special holidays and were also commissioned by private citizens to celebrate career achievements. A fragmentary stone inscription records circus games paid for by a citizen of unknown name to celebrate his achieving the sevirate, archaeologists have also identified portions of a special seat of the sort used by the city elites to attend circus games, called a sella curulis. The circus could hold up to 15000 spectators, during Roman times, Toledo was never a provincial capital nor a conventus iuridicus. It started to gain importance in late antiquity, there are indications that large private houses within the city walls were enlarged, while several large villas were built north of the city through the third and fourth centuries. Games were held in the circus into the fourth and early fifth centuries C. E. also an indication of active city life. A church council was held in Toledo in the year 400 to discuss the conflict with Priscillianism, a second council of Toledo was held in 527. The Visigothic king Theudis was in Toledo in 546, where he promulgated a law and this is strong though not certain evidence that Toledo was the chief residence for Theudis. King Athanagild died in Toledo, probably in 568 and this changed with Liuvigild, who brought the peninsula under his control. The Visigoths ruled from Toledo until the Moors conquered the Iberian peninsula in the years of 8th century. Today the historic center is pierced of basements, passages, wells, baths, a series of church councils was held in Toledo under the Visigoths
24.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
25.
Palermo
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Palermo is a city of Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence, Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as Ziz, Palermo then became a possession of Carthage, before becoming part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. The Greeks named the city Panormus meaning complete port, from 831 to 1072 the city was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when the city first became a capital. The Arabs shifted the Greek name into Balarme, the root for Palermos present-day name, eventually Sicily would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860. The population of Palermo urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 855,285, in the central area, the city has a population of around 676,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Palermitani or, poetically, panormiti, the languages spoken by its inhabitants are the Italian language, Sicilian language and the Palermitano dialect. Palermo is Sicilys cultural, economic and touristic capital and it is a city rich in history, culture, art, music and food. Palermo is the main Sicilian industrial and commercial center, the industrial sectors include tourism, services, commerce. Palermo currently has an airport, and a significant underground economy. In fact, for cultural, artistic and economic reasons, Palermo was one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean and is now among the top tourist destinations in both Italy and Europe. It is the seat of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Arab-Norman Palermo. The city is going through careful redevelopment, preparing to become one of the major cities of the Euro-Mediterranean area. Roman Catholicism is highly important in Palermitano culture, the Patron Saint of Palermo is Santa Rosalia whose Feast Day is celebrated on 15 July. The area attracts significant numbers of each year and is widely known for its colourful fruit, vegetable and fish markets at the heart of Palermo, known as Vucciria, Ballarò. Palermo lies in a basin, formed by the Papireto, Kemonia, the basin was named the Conca dOro by the Arabs in the 9th century. The city is surrounded by a range which is named after the city itself. These mountains face the Tyrrhenian Sea, Palermo is home to a natural port and offers excellent views to the sea, especially from Monte Pellegrino
26.
Christmas
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In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
27.
All Souls' Day
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In Christianity, All Souls Day commemorates All Souls, the Holy Souls, or the Faithful Departed, that is, the souls of Christians who have died. Observing Christians typically remember deceased relatives on the day, in Western Christianity the annual celebration is now held on 2 November and is associated with the three days of Allhallowtide, including All Saints Day and its vigil, Halloween. In the liturgical books of the western Catholic Church it is called the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, and is celebrated annually on 2 November. In the ordinary form and Divine Worship form of the Roman Rite, it remains on 2 November if this date falls on a Sunday, in the extraordinary form, on this day in particular, Catholics pray for the dead. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and the associated Eastern Catholic Churches, beliefs and practices associated with All Souls Day vary widely among Christian churches and denominations. Among Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, there are several All Souls Days during the year, most of these fall on Saturday, since Jesus lay in the Tomb on Holy Saturday. John the Baptist—23 September In Slavic and Greek Churches, all of the Lenten Soul Saturdays are typically observed, in some of the Churches of the Eastern Mediterranean, Meatfare Saturday, Radonitsa and the Saturday before Pentecost are typically observed. East Syriac churches including the Syro Malabar Church and Chaldean Catholic Church commemorates the feast of departed faithful on the last Friday of Epiphany, the season of Epiphany remembers the revelation of Christ to the world. And on each Fridays of season of Epiphany the church remembers some important figures in the evangelism, apart from this In Syro Malabar Church Friday before the parish festival is also celebrated as feast of departed faithful. Here the parish remembers the activities of forefathers who worked for the parish and they also request the intercession of all departed for the faithful celebration of parish festival. In east Syriac liturgy the church remembers departed souls including saints on every Fridays throughout the year since the Christ was crucified and died on Friday, prayer for the dead is a documented practice in Judaism and Christianity. Other dates chosen were Epiphany and the anniversary of the death of some well-known saint, by about 980,1 October was an established date in Germany. The 11th century saw the introduction of a commemoration in diocesan calendars. In Milan the date was 16 October until changed in the half of the 16th century to 2 November. This date, the day after All Saints Day, was that which Saint Odilo of Cluny chose in the 11th century for all the dependent on the Abbey of Cluny. From these the 2 November custom spread to other Benedictine monasteries, the official name of the celebration in the Roman Rite liturgy is The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. In some countries the celebration is known as the Day of the Dead, in the Roman Rite as revised in 1969, if 2 November falls on a Sunday, the Mass is of All Souls, but the Liturgy of the Hours is that of the Sunday. However, public celebration of Lauds and Vespers of the Dead with the people participating is permitted, a Sunday celebration of All Souls Day is not anticipated on Saturday evening, as are a Sunday Mass and that of a solemnity or feast of the Lord that replaces a Sunday
28.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
29.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
30.
Algarve
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The Algarve is the southernmost region of continental Portugal. It has an area of 4,997 square kilometres with 451,006 permanent inhabitants, the region has as its administrative centre in the city of Faro, where both the regions international airport and public university, University of Algarve, are located. Tourism and related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarves summer economy, production of food, which includes fish and other seafood, fruit, oranges, carob beans, figs and almonds, is also economically important in the region. The Algarve is the most popular tourist destination in Portugal, and its population triples to nearly 1.5 million people in the peak holiday season thanks to seasonal residents, and receives an average of 7 million foreign tourists each year. In total, including visitors, almost 10 million people visit the Algarve annually. The Algarve is currently the third richest region in Portugal, after Lisbon and Madeira, human presence in southern Portugal dates back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. The presence of stones in the area of Vila do Bispo attests to this presence. The Cynetes, influenced by Tartessos, were established by the sixth century BC in the region of the Algarve and they would be strongly influenced by the Celtici. Those indo-european tribes, celtic or pre-celtic, founded the city of Lagos, the Phoenicians had established trading ports along the coast circa 1000 BC. Some sources claim that the Carthaginians founded Portus Hanibalis – known today as Portimão – in about 550 BC, much of the Iberian Peninsula was absorbed into the Roman Republic in the second century BC, and the Algarve region similarly came under Roman control. Many Roman ruins can still be seen, notably in Lagos, Roman bath complexes and fish salting tanks have been found near the shore in several locations, for example the ones near Vilamoura and Praia da Luz. In the 5th century the Visigoths took control of the Algarve until the beginning of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711, when the Moors conquered Lagos in 716, it was named Zawaia. Faro, which the Christian residents had called Santa Maria, was renamed Faraon, due to the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the region was called Gharb Al-Andalus, Gharb means the west, while al-Andalus is the Arabic name for the Iberian Peninsula. For several years, the town of Silves was the capital of the region, in the mid-13th century, during the Reconquista, the Kingdom of Portugal conquered the region in a series of successful military campaigns against the Moors. Al-Gharb became the Kingdom of the Algarve, and the moors were expelled and it was not until the early 14th century that the Portuguese finally secured the region against the subsequent Muslim attempts to recapture the area. King Afonso III of Portugal started calling himself King of Portugal, prior to the independence of Brazil, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was an official designation for Portugal which also alluded to the Algarve. Portuguese monarchs continued used this title until the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910, between 1595 and 1808, the Algarve was a semi-autonomous area of Portugal with its own governor, as well as a separate taxation system. In the 15th century, Prince Henry the Navigator based himself near Lagos and it was also from Lagos that Gil Eanes set sail in 1434 to become the first seafarer to round Cape Bojador in West Africa
31.
Yolk
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The yolk is the portion of an egg with the primary function to supply food for the development of the animal embryo. Reproductive systems in which the mothers body supplies the embryo directly are said to be matrotrophic, in many species, such as all birds, and most reptiles and insects, the yolk takes the form of a special storage organ constructed in the reproductive tract of the mother. In many other animals, especially small species such as some fishes and invertebrates, the yolk material is not in a special organ. Yolks, being mainly stored food, tend to be very concentrated, the proteins function partly as food in their own right, and partly in controlling the storage and supply of the other nutrients. For example, in some species the amount of yolk in an egg cell affects the developmental processes that follow fertilization. Yolk is not living cell material like protoplasm, but largely passive material, the food material, plus associated control structures, is supplied by the maternal body during the process called oogenesis. Apart from animals, other organisms, like algae, specially in the oogamous, in gymnosperms, the remains of the female gametophyte serve also as food supply, and in flowering plants, the endosperm. In the avian egg, the yolk usually is some shade of yellow in colour and it is spherical and is suspended in the egg white by one or two spiral bands of tissue called the chalazae. The yolk mass, together with the egg cell or ovum properlly are enclosed by the vitelline membrane, whose structure is different from a cell membrane. The yolk is mostly extracellular to the oolemma, being not accumulated inside the cytoplasm of the egg cell, contrary to the claim that the egg cell. After the fertilization, the cleavage of the leads to the formation of the germinal disc. As food, the egg yolk is a major source of vitamins. It contains all of the fat and cholesterol, and nearly half of the protein. If left intact when an egg is fried, the yellow yolk surrounded by a flat blob of egg white creates a distinctive sunny-side up form, mixing the two components together before cooking results in a pale yellow mass, as in omelettes and scrambled eggs. The developing embryo inside the egg uses the yolk as sustenance and it is at times separated from the egg white and used in cooking. It is used in painting as a component of traditional egg-tempera and it is used in the production of egg-yolk agar plate medium, useful in testing for the presence of Clostridium perfringens. Egg yolk contains an antibody called antiglobulin, the antibody transfers from the laying hen to the egg yolk by passive immunity to protect both embryo and hatchling from microorganism invasion. Egg yolk can be used to make such as Advocaat or eggnog
32.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
33.
Cyprus
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Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, north of Egypt, the earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC, Cyprus was placed under British administration based on Cyprus Convention in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain in 1914. While Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population, the partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders, following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. On 15 July 1974, a coup détat was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta in an attempt at enosis and these events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute. The Cyprus Republic has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus, as well as its territorial sea and exclusive economic area, another nearly 4% of the islands area is covered by the UN buffer zone. The international community considers the part of the island as territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The occupation is viewed as illegal under law, amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union. Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, on 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone. The earliest attested reference to Cyprus is the 15th century BC Mycenaean Greek
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Aegean Islands
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The ancient Greek name of the Aegean Sea, Archipelago was later applied to the islands it contains and is now used more generally, to refer to any island group. The vast majority of the Aegean Islands belong to Greece, being split among nine administrative regions, the only sizable possessions of Turkey in the Aegean Sea are Imbros and Tenedos, in the northeastern part of the Sea. Various smaller islets off Turkeys western coast are also under Turkish sovereignty, most of the islands enjoy warm summer temperatures and cold winter influenced by the Mediterranean climate. In the Treaty of Peace in 1947, these Italian-controlled islands were ceded to Greece, media related to Islands of the Aegean Sea at Wikimedia Commons
35.
Malta
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Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease
36.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
37.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
38.
Sinterklaas
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Sinterklaas or Sint-Nicolaas is a historical figure with legendary, and folkloric origins based on Saint Nicholas. Other names for the figure include De Sint, De Goede Sint, and De Goedheiligman in Dutch, Saint Nicolas in French, Sinteklaas in Frisian and he is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Suriname. He is the source of the popular Christmas icon of Santa Claus. Sinterklaas is an elderly, stately and serious man with white hair and he traditionally rides a white horse. In the Netherlands, the horse is called Amerigo, and in Belgium, it is named Slecht Weer Vandaag, Sinterklaas carries a big, red book, called The Book of Sinterklaas, in which is written whether each child has been good or naughty in the past year. Zwarte Piet is a companion of Sinterklaas, dressed up based on 16th-century clothes of nobles in colourful attire, often sporting a lace collar, among other things, the black represents the black-white difference, but also helps people playing Zwarte Piet to stay unrecognisable to the children. Children are told that Zwarte Piet is black due to the soot in the chimneys, according to Hélène Adeline Guerber and others, the origin of Sinterklaas and his helpers has been linked by some to the Wild Hunt of Wodan. Riding the white horse Sleipnir he flew through the air as the leader of the Wild Hunt and he was always accompanied by two black ravens, Huginn and Muninn. Those helpers would listen, just like Zwarte Piet, at the chimney – which was just a hole in the roof at that time – to tell Wodan about the good and bad behaviour of the mortals. Due to its character, however, this older Germanic theory has little support among present-day scholars. At the same time, it clear that the Saint Nicholas tradition contains a number of elements that are not ecclesiastical in origin. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and this part of the legend refers to the times that the Moors raided the European coasts, and as far as Iceland, to abduct the local people into slavery. This quality can be found in other companions of Saint Nicholas such as Krampus, in recent years the roe has been absent, to adapt to modern times. Over the years many stories have been added, and Zwarte Piet has developed from a rather unintelligent helper into an assistant to the absent-minded saint. Traditionally Zwarte Piets face is said to be black because he is a Moor from Spain, Today, some prefer to say that his face is blackened with soot because he has to climb through chimneys to deliver gifts for Sinterklaas. The figure of Zwarte Piet is considered by some to be racist, as such, the traditions surrounding the holiday of Sinterklaas have been the subject of numerous editorials, debates, documentaries, protests and even violent clashes at festivals. Nevertheless, both Zwarte Piet and the holiday remain popular in the Netherlands, in a 2013 survey, 92% of the Dutch public did not perceive Zwarte Piet as racist or associate him with slavery, and 91% were opposed to altering the characters appearance. Despite Zwarte Piets popularity, many cities and television channels now only display Chimney Petes
39.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
40.
Geneva
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
41.
L'Escalade
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The celebrations and other commemorative activities are usually held on 12 December or the closest weekend. For years, the duke coveted the wealth of the city-state, when Charles Emmanuel came to the throne of the House of Savoy in 1580, he longed to make Geneva his capital north of the Alps and crush Protestantism. The troops marched along the Arve River at night and assembled at Plainpalais, just outside the walls of Geneva, the original plan was to send in a group of commandos to open the city gate and let the other troops in. The Geneva citizens defeated the invaders by preventing them from scaling the wall using cannon fire, the alarm was raised, the church bells were rung and the Genevese were alerted. The night guard Isaac Mercier succeeded in cutting the rope holding up the portcullis, the populace fought alongside their town militia and the dukes 2000-plus mercenaries were defeated. The Genevese lost 18 men in the fighting, the Savoyards suffered 54 fatalities and the troops had to retreat. According to Genevese legend, Catherine Cheynel, originally from Lyon and the wife of Pierre Royaume, the Royaume family lived just above the La Monnaie town gate. The heavy cauldron of boiling soup landed on the head of a Savoyard attacker, the commotion that this caused also helped to rouse the townsfolk to defend the city. After the defeat, the Duke of Savoy accepted a lasting peace, the story of LEscalade is told in a song called Cé què lainô, written in a Franco-Provençal dialect around 1603 by an unknown author. The song has become the anthem of Geneva, while the complete version comprises 68 stanzas. It was also celebrated in verse by Samuel Chappuzeau in his Genève Délivrée, celebrations include a large marmite made of chocolate and filled with marzipan vegetables and candies wrapped in the Geneva colours of red and gold. It is customary for the eldest and youngest in the room to smash the marmite, while reciting, referring to how Catherine Cheynel, better known as Mère Royaume, poured boiling hot vegetable soup on soldiers climbing up the walls of the city. Other traditions include mulled wine, a serving of soup. It is also common for children in school to prepare vegetable soup, teenagers tend to throw eggs, shaving cream, and flour at each other as part of the celebration. There is also a parade on Friday evening, the names of the eighteen who died—Jacques Billon finally died of his wounds a year later—are called out, one after another. The historical procession on Sunday features more or less 800 people with historical costumes, the fragments of the ladders used by the Savoyards. This parade - organised since 1926 by the Compagnie de 1602 - attracts every year tens of thousand spectators. Since 1978 there has been another element to the celebration of the Escalade, the run traditionally starts in the parc des Bastions and goes through the Old City of Geneva, before finishing near the start again
42.
Duchy of Savoy
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From 1416 to 1860, the Duchy of Savoy was a state in Western Europe. It was created by Sigismund, King of the Romans, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Duke Amadeus VIII, the duchy was a subject of the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet. From the 16th century, it belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle, during all its history, it was ruled by the House of Savoy. The Duchy is considered to be a part of the Savoyard state, the Duchy was created in 1416 following Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, awarding the title Duke to Count Amadeus VIII. Being landlocked at its conception in 1388, the then-County of Savoy acquired a few kilometres of coastline around Nice, other than this expansion, the 14th century was generally a time of stagnation. Pressure from neighboring powers, particularly France, prevented development, which characterizes the rest of the Renaissance era for Savoy, the reign of Amadeus VIII was a turning point for the economy and the policy of the state, which deeply marked the history of the nation. His long reign was highlighted by wars, as well as reforms and edicts, the first was in 1434, when he chose to withdraw to the Château de Ripaille, where, living the life of a hermit, he founded the Order of St. Maurice. In 1439 he received an appointment as antipope which he accepted, the duke left the territory largely formed from the old Savoy domain. As a cultured and refined man, Duke Amadeus gave great importance to art, among others, he worked with the famous Giacomo Jaquerio) in literature and architecture, encouraging the entry of art to the Italian Piedmont. However, his first son Amedeo died prematurely in 1431, succeeded by his second son Louis, during this period, France was more or less free to control the affairs of Savoy, which bound Savoy to the crown in Paris. The Duchys economy suffered during these years, not only because of war, but also because of the administration by Violante. The future of the nation was entrusted to the hands of a boy, Philibert I and he was succeeded by Charles I, whose ascent to the throne seemed to promise a rebirth of the country. When Philibert II died in 1504, he was succeeded by Charles III the Good, since 1515, Savoy was occupied by foreign armies, and Francis I of France was just waiting for the opportunity to permanently annex the duchy of Savoy and its possessions. In 1536 Francis I ordered the occupation of the Duchy, which was invaded by a military contingent. Charles III realized too late the weakness of the state, however, the city was lost on April 3 of the same year. Charles III retired in Vercelli, trying to continue the fight, Emmanuel Philibert was the Duke who more than any influenced the future policy of Savoy, managing to put an end to the more than twenty-year long occupation. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, signed in 1559, restored full autonomy for the duchy, from his military experience in Flanders, Emmanuel Philibert learned how to run an army, having won the famous Battle of St. Quentin. He was the first Duke of Savoy to establish a stable military apparatus that was not composed of mercenaries but rather by specially trained Savoyan soldiers
43.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
44.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
45.
New Year's Eve
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In the Gregorian calendar, New Years Eve, the last day of the year, is on December 31 which is the seventh day of the Christmas season. In many countries, New Years Eve is celebrated at evening gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages. Some Christians attend a watchnight service, the celebrations generally go on past midnight into January 1. Samoa, Tonga and Kiritimati, part of Kiribati, are the first places to welcome the New Year while American Samoa, New Year traditions and celebrations in Canada vary regionally. New Years Eve is generally a social holiday, in some areas, such as in rural Quebec, people ice fish in the old days. Since 2000, the highlight of New Years Eve celebrations is in Montreals old port, which comes alive with concerts that take place and fireworks at midnight. From 1956 to 1976, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians serenaded Canada on the CBC, via a feed from CBS, after Lombardos death in 1977, the Royal Canadians continued on CBC and CBS until 1978. Following the finale of the series, the original cast continued to participate in New Years Eve specials in the years following. Similarly, the CBCs French language network Ici Radio-Canada Télé airs its own yearly New Years Eve comedy special, Bye Bye. Unlike Year of the Farce, Bye Bye has been presented by comedians, originally running from 1968 to 1998. Mexicans celebrate New Years Eve, by eating a grape with each of the chimes of a clocks bell during the midnight countdown. Mexican sweet bread is baked with a coin or charm hidden in the dough, when the bread is served, the recipient of the slice with the coin or charm is said to be blessed with good luck in the New Year. At the same time, they are expressed for all the good things during the year that is ending so that they continue in the new year. Mexicans celebrate with a dinner with their families, the traditional meal being turkey or pork loin. Afterwards many people attend parties outside the home, for example, in Mexico City there is a street festival on New Years Eve centered on the Zocalo, the citys main square. Celebrations include firecrackers, fireworks and sparklers and shouts of ¡Feliz Año Nuevo, in Puerto Rico, New Years Eve is celebrated with friends and family. The Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan is the attraction for Puerto Ricans during the celebration. It has Latin music and fireworks at midnight along with the signature song Auld Lang Syne in Spanish, in the United States, New Years Eve is celebrated with formal parties, family-oriented activities, and other large public events
46.
Tallinn
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Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland,80 km south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm, from the 13th century until 1918, the city was known as Reval. Tallinn occupies an area of 159.2 km2 and has a population of 444,591, approximately 33% of Estonias total population lives in Tallinn. Tallinn was founded in 1248, but the earliest human settlements date back 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest capital cities of Northern Europe. The initial claim over the land was laid by the Danes in 1219 after a raid of Lyndanisse led by Valdemar II of Denmark. Due to its location, the city became a major trade hub, especially from the 14th to the 16th century. Tallinns Old Town is one of the best preserved cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tallinn is the political, financial, cultural and educational center of Estonia. Often dubbed the Silicon Valley of Europe, it has the highest number of startups per person in Europe and is a birthplace of international companies. The city is to house the headquarters of the European Unions IT agency, providing to the global cybersecurity it is the home to the NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. It is ranked as a city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku in Finland and it has been suggested that Quwri may have denoted a predecessor of the modern city. The earliest names of Tallinn include Kolyvan, which is known from East Slavic chronicles, up to the 13th century, the Scandinavians and Henry of Livonia in his chronicle called the town Lindanisa (or Lyndanisse in Danish, Lindanäs in Swedish and Ledenets in Old East Slavic. It has been suggested that the archaic Estonian word linda is similar to the Votic word lidna. According to this suggestion, nisa would have the meaning niemi, producing Kesoniemi, another ancient historical name for Tallinn in Finnish is Rääveli. The Icelandic Njals saga mentions Tallinn and calls it Rafala, which is a variant of the name Raphael, after the Danish conquest in 1219, the town became known in the German, Swedish and Danish languages as Reval. The name originated from Revelia Revala or Rävala, the adjacent ancient name of the surrounding area and it is usually thought to be derived from Taani-linn, after the Danes built the castle in place of the Estonian stronghold at Lindanisse. However, it could also have come from tali-linna, or talu-linna, the element -linna, like Germanic -burg and Slavic -grad / -gorod, originally meant fortress, but is used as a suffix in the formation of town names
47.
Maiasmokk
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Maiasmokk is an old café in the capital city of Tallinn, Estonia that is located at the address of Pikk tn 16. It is said to have finished in its form in 1864. The premises also contain a museum about the history and uses of marzipan and it is currently owned by the Kalev company. The official website of the Maiasimokk says that the café offers you fresh pastries, pies and cakes made at the cafe as well as delicious handmade candies and it also has hot coffee offered in a variety of forms. The coffee-house is located at the intersection of Pikk and Pühavaimu streets and it lies diagonally opposite the Church of the Holy Ghost, and the Great Guild. The interior of the café has remained unchanged for almost a century, the café is open on Mondays through Fridays from 8 A. M. to 9 P. M. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 A. M. to 9 P. M. The second floor is open throughout the week from 11 A. M. to 9 P. M, apart from the café, the premises also contain a room with an exhibition about the history and uses of marzipan. The marzipan museum room has around 200 marzipan figures, made from molds over 100 years old, a marzipan artist, who does the marzipan painting, is always located in the museum. The museum is open throughout the week from 10 A. M. to 8 P. M, maiasmokk is said to be the oldest cafe which is still operational in Estonia. The history of the coffee-house goes back to August 111806 and it was the first sugar bakery was established here, but it was not until 1864 that the presently visible café was constructed. In 1864, the property was bought and redeveloped by the Baltic German confectioner Georg Stude, during the late 19th century, the coffee-house became renowned for its marzipan production, and clients buying marzipan included the Russian Imperial family. At the beginning of the 20th century, prior to World War I, in 1941, the company became nationalised, but the café continued to operate during the Soviet occupation of Estonia. In 1997, after Estonia had re-gained its independence, the café was registered as a private enterprise, a majority of the shares were bought by Kalev in 2004, and it is today a part of the Kalev company. In 2006 the Estonian Post Office created a stamp to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the cafe. In 2010, Kalev also bought the house in which the café is located
Cookbook: Marzipan 
Media: Marzipan
