According to believers, the Epiphany marks the
baptism of Jesus in the Orthodox Church. On this day water becomes holy and
churchgoers cut holes in the ice of lakes and rivers to bathe in the freezing
water
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| Tyarlevo, Russia: A woman emerges from the icy water |
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| Veliky Novgorod, Russia: Orthodox church faithful marking Epiphany by plunging into the ice cold water of the Veryazha River |
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| Novoiyerusalimsky, Russia: An Orthodox priest blesses the Istra river by dipping a cross in the water |
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| Moscow, Russia: A man crosses himself before taking a dip in the ice hole of the pond in Kolomenskoe park |
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| Moscow, Russia: A man crosses himself before taking a dip in the ice hole of the pond in Kolomenskoe park |
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| Moscow, Russia: A man crosses himself as he emerges from the water of a lake |
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| Novoiyerusalimsky, Russia: A man takes a dip in the icy waters of the Istra river |
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| Almaty, Kazakhstan: Orthodox priests conduct a service on the banks of the Bolshaya Almatinka river |
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| Almaty, Kazakhstan: A man crosses himself
after taking a dip in the icy water of the Bolshaya Almatinka river as
an emergency rescuer looks on |
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| Pukhovichi, Belarus: Soldiers plunge into ice cold water to mark Orthodox Epiphany |
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| Belgrade, Serbia: Marko Tomasevic lifts
up a wooden cross, after being the first to reach it in a traditional
event in which local men fish the cross from the Danube river |
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| Kiev, Ukraine: People enact a battle to mark the Orthodox Epiphany |
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| Kiev, Ukraine: People enact a battle to mark the Orthodox Epiphany |
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| People jump into icy waters in Ohrid, Macedonia |
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| A man emerges from an icy pond in Moscow |
