Jan 7, 2016- Orthodox Christians around the world have started celebrating Christmas, which they mark on Thursday, in line with the Julian calendar.
Communities from Europe to the Middle East are marking the day - each with their own unique traditions.
In the Russian capital Moscow, the authorities expected 350,000 people to take part in Christmas liturgies.
Other countries celebrated with firework displays, traditional log-burning ceremonies and processions.
Communities from Europe to the Middle East are marking the day - each with their own unique traditions.
In the Russian capital Moscow, the authorities expected 350,000 people to take part in Christmas liturgies.
Other countries celebrated with firework displays, traditional log-burning ceremonies and processions.
Many Orthodox Christians in Russia - home to the world's largest Orthodox community - attend night services to mark Christmas. Here, a Russian monk attaches a Christmas tree branch to an icon inside a church ahead of the service:
"Kutia" is a traditional sweet grain pudding, often eaten after fasting on Christmas Eve. This one was prepared in a monastery in Krasnoyarsk, in Russia's Siberian region:
In Serbia, many attended the Badnja - or Yule log burning - ceremony:
In the St Volodymyr Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, people lit candles to mark Christmas Eve. On Wednesday, rebels in the east of the country offered to release captives during the Christmas period:
In Egypt, Ethiopian Christians attended Christmas Mass at the Coptic Cathedral of Saint Marcos in Cairo, following 43 days of fasting. About 10% of Egyptians are Orthodox Coptic Christians:
Egypt's President Adbel Fattah al-Sisi greeted Christians at a Christmas Eve Mass in Cairo:
In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Christians took part in a candlelight procession in what they believe to be the church Jesus was born in
-Source:Ekantipur
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