Orthodox Believers Celebrate Christmas Across the Balkans

In North Macedonia, the Christmas celebrations began on January 5, the night before Christmas Eve, with bonfire nights organised across the country. This one took place in the capital, Skopje. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

Children gather around a bonfire during a traditional gathering on January 5, the night before Christmas Eve, in North Macedonia's capital of Skopje. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

A young drummer performs as people dance around a bonfire on the night before Christmas Eve in Skopje, North Macedonia. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

In the central Bulgarian town of Kalofer, people perform the national dance called 'Horo' in an icy river while holding national flags aloft during a celebration on January 6 of the Epiphany, a Christian feast that celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men with their gifts for the infant Jesus. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

In an icy river in the central Bulgarian town of Kalofer, people perform the national dance called 'Horo' as part of the January 6 celebrations for the Epiphany, a Christian feast that celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men with their gifts for the infant Jesus. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

To mark the Epiphany on January 6 - believed by Christians to be the date when the Three Wise Men arrived with their gifts for infant Jesus - Bulgarians in the central town of Kalofer perform the national dance called 'Horo' holding national flags in an icy river. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

Bulgarian men jump into the icy waters of a lake in Sofia to recover a wooden cross during the celebrations of Epiphany Day on January 6. The swimmers compete to find the cross, thrown into the water by an Eastern Orthodox priest, believing the one...