Sinterklaas
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Sinterklaas
Sinter Claes depiction at a 16th-century house near the Dam in Amsterdam. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of the capital of the Netherlands
Zwarte Piet
Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piet helpers arriving by steamboat from Spain
A chocolate letter, typical Sinterklaas candy
Kruidnoten, small, round ginger bread-like cookies
The Feast of Saint Nicholas, by Jan Steen
Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French) is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) and Artois (Arras). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including South Africa, Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.
He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in Belgium and Northern France. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas — patron saint of children, sailors, and the city of Amsterdam, among others.
Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas he is also known as Goedheiligman or simply Sint [ pronunciation (help·info)]
Closely related figures are also known in German-speaking Europe and territories historically influenced by German or Germanic culture, including: Switzerland (Samichlaus), Germany and Austria (Sankt Nikolaus); the region of South Tyrol in Italy; Nord-Pas de Calais, Alsace and Lorraine in France - as well as in Luxembourg (De Kleeschen), parts of Central Europe and the Balkans.
and what do you think of zwarte pieten ?
Zwarte Piet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Black Peter" redirects here. For other uses, see Black Peter (disambiguation).
Zwarte Piet, left, and Sinterklaas, right.
In the folklore and legends of the Netherlands and Belgium, Zwarte Piet ( pronunciation (help·info)) (meaning Black Pete) is a companion of Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas) whose yearly feast in the Netherlands is usually celebrated on the evening of 5 December (Sinterklaas-avond, that is St. Nicolas Eve) and 6 December in Belgium, when they distribute sweets and presents to all good children.
The characters of Zwarte Pieten appear only in the weeks before Saint Nicholas's feast, first when the saint is welcomed with a parade as he arrives in the country (generally by boat, having traveled from Madrid, Spain). The tasks of the Zwarte Pieten are mostly to amuse children, and to scatter pepernoten and candies for those who come to meet the saint as he visits stores, schools, and other places.
The original Zwarte Piet is sometimes associated with Knecht Ruprecht, but in the Low Countries the tradition has not merged with Christmas.
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