On March 4, we celebrate St. Kazimierz - Patron Saint of Lithuania - Day. According to tradition, St. Kazimierz's Day's commemoration day is followed by the Kaziuk Fair in Vilnius. It is the oldest celebration in Vilnius, with a 414-year-old tradition.
The origins of the Kaziuk fair date back to the 1602th century. the beginning. in 7 November 1636 Pope Clement VIII in his breve officially declared Casimir a saint, so far only local, of Poland and Lithuania. Meanwhile, his successor Paul V already announced St. Kazimierz as a saint of the entire Catholic Church, and Urbon VIII in 1604. announced by St. Kazimierz as patron of Lithuania. In the same year, the remains of the saint were ceremoniously transferred from the Jesuit St. Casimir's Church, where they were kept since XNUMX, to the ornate chapel in the Cathedral specially built by the order of Zygmantas Vaza (then already deceased), where they are still today.
It is assumed that just after the transfer of Saint's remains in 1636 and the history of the Kaziuk Fair begins. Then, in the Cathedral, start preparing St. Casimir's indulgences, and an integral part of the indulgences was always the so-called "kermošius" (from the German kirchmesse), the trade and entertainment that took place after church celebrations. Those "battles" took place for almost two hundred years, sometimes dying out during wars or other disasters, then resuming again, until in 1827 The merchants of Vilnius did not take advantage of the privilege of organizing a larger, several-day trade fair, the so-called "jomark" (from the German jahrmarkt and the Russian yarmarka). This was already the beginning of the real Kaziuk fair. It was attended not only by Vilnius residents, but also by merchants from further afield. On the Cathedral Square so-called "houses", temporary shelters or tents were built. During that period, one of the attributes of the Kaziuk fair appears - the sweet gingerbread "Heart of Kaziuk".
The culmination of this celebration was a solemn procession from the Cathedral Square to St. Stephen's Church, where St. Mass.
The participants of the procession were divided into four groups: craftsmen with the flags of their workshops, hired night guards of the city soldiers, zudaubūrii (clergymen, brothers of Vilnius monasteries, pupils of their schools). Bishops and members of the Vilnius chapter also took part in the procession. A separate squad was made up of University students, called academicians.
The procession was completed by the orchestra and St. Casimir's "soldiers" - youth dressed as angels and knights - the "heavenly" and "earthly" entourage of the holy king. They had lily flowers in their hands - the prototypes of the famous Vilnius verbs.
in 1827 Casimirian were legalized in the Cathedral Square. 1901 the Russian authorities erected a monument to Catherine II in the Cathedral Square, so the trade-year, which is more related to the veneration of the Catholic saint, became not respectable enough for such a serious "neighborhood" from the point of view of the tsar's officials. The fair was moved to Lukiškės Square. It quickly became clear that the participants of the fair could not fit there. More than 2400 peasant carriages came to the fair, and the merchants built the entire Neris embankment from the Green Bridge to Žvēryn in their own "ways".
in 1927 on March 4, at 20 p.m., on the occasion of the Kaziuk fair, the first public radio broadcast will take place in Vilnius. It was organized by the radio receiver sales and repair company "Vilnius Radiotechnikos Biuras".
1935th century the religious aspect of the holiday faded considerably. in 1937 the old traditions were taken over by the student body. in XNUMX the actors of "Liunias" theater took part in the procession, playing farewell to winter, driving away Cold and Flu.
"An even more impressive procession in 1938 organized by VU Faculty of Arts students: with St. The statue of Kazimierz, with the symbols of Kermoš - huge gingerbread "hearts". Then, for the first time, the colorful Vilnius verbs appeared during Kaziuka - the carriages of the procession were decorated with them. Over time, the fair began to be organized in several places.
The Polish Tourism Promotion Union even organized special trains to Vilnius from other Polish cities.
World War II interrupted the prosperity of the Kaziuk Fair. After the war, Kaziuk was also "moved out" from Lukiškės Square - a monument to Lenin was erected there. During the Soviet era, the fair was moved to the then collective farm (popularly known as Dzerzhinsky) market on Kalvarii (then Dzerzhinsky) street.
Source:
Klimka Libertas, Kaziuk Fair. Vilnius, 2009.
Klimka Libertas, Solar circle, menuli path. Lithuanian calendar, Vilnius, 2008.
Klimka Libertas, Students and Kaziuk Fair
