The Royal Caldelian Mark: January 2021

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

The Twelfth Day Of Christmas:Epiphany

The presents have been opened, the puddings eaten and lots of TV has been watched - and now it feels like Christmas has been and gone for another year.

But 6 January marks an important date for many people in the Christmas calendar.

That is because it is the date of something called Epiphany.

Image captionEpiphany is a Christian festival that marks the day the three Wise Men went to visit the baby Jesus

Scene showing the three Wise Men visiting Jesus — Image captionEpiphany is a Christian festival that marks the day the three Wise Men went to visit the baby Jesus

What is Epiphany?

Epiphany - also known as Three Kings' Day - is a Christian festival, which starts on 6 January.

It is a special date in the Christmas story as it's when people celebrate how a star led the Magi - also known as the Three kings or the Wise Men - to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born.

'Epiphany' comes from the Greek word meaning 'to reveal', as it is when the baby Jesus was 'revealed' to the world.

This is why you might hear people say they've had an epiphany, when they've just realised something.

Image captionHere, children are celebrating the Dia de los Reyes in New York

Children celebrate the Dia de los Reyes in New York — Image captionHere, children are celebrating the Dia de los Reyes in New York

In some countries many families will take off 6 January and exchange presents.

In Spain and Latin America, El Dia de los Reyes is just as important as Christmas Day itself.

A bit like how you might leave a carrot and mince pie out on Christmas Eve, the night before El Día de los Reyes , children leave out drinks for the Three Kings and there are parades and fireworks displays to mark the occasion.

Eastern Orthodox Christians actually celebrate Christmas on Epiphany, so it's an important religious occasion.

What is Twelfth Night?

The date of Epiphany also happens around the time for Twelfth Night too.

Traditionally, Twelfth Night marks the end of Christmas - 12 nights after Christmas.

Even if you are not at all religious, Twelfth Night is important to a lot of people as all of the Christmas decorations must come down by the time the clock strikes midnight at the end of the day.

It is said to be bad luck if they stay up beyond this, so you may be busy taking down tinsel if you haven't done it already!

But the date of it is a little bit confusing. It can fall on 5 January or 6 January, according to different traditions.

If the 12 nights are counted from Christmas Day night itself, it falls on 5 January. Anglicans mark Twelfth Night on 5 January.

But some other churches count it from the following day, which means Twelfth Night falls on 6 January.

Royal Cresent Bath

Exploring Bath's perfectly preserved Georgian architecture is probably the second best excuse to visit this beautiful city. A great place to start your adventure is the Museum of Bath Architecture, a unique facility located in a former private chapel that demonstrates how classical design influenced the city's buildings. It's also home to the incredibly detailed Bath Model, a magnificent 1:500 scale architectural model of the historic city center. Walk to the northwest section of the city, where most of the best architectural examples are found. Check out Queen Square and Gay Street, with their beautifully symmetrical façades dating from the early 18th century, then head to the Royal Circus, a perfect circle of three-story homes with different classical orders (column types) on each level. Finally, there's Royal Crescent, a monumental semicircular sweep of residential townhouses with a breathtakingly uniform, palace-like façade. No.1 Royal Crescent is open to the public (most homes on the crescent remain privately owned) and provides a rare glimpse into what life was like for the wealthy — along with their not-so-wealthy servants — in the 1770s. A variety of guided tours, educational events, and themed itineraries are available.

Longleat

Longleat is an English country house, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set in over 900 acres (364 ha) of parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown, with 8,000 acres (32.37 km2) of woods and farmland. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and also claims the first safari park outside Africa. The house was built by Sir John Thynne, and designed mainly by Robert Smythson, after the original priory was destroyed by fire in 1567. It took 12 years to complete and is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. Longleat is currently occupied by Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, a direct descendant of the builder.