Saint Lucy's Day Estonian ) was traditionally celebrated by the local Estonian Swedes. It is also celebrated annually in the Gustav Adolf Grammar School, which was founded by Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus in 1631, making it one of the oldest extant secondary schools in Europe. In Saint Lucia, a tiny island in the Caribbean named after its patron saint, St. Lucy, 13 December is celebrated as National Day. The National Festival of Lights and Renewal is held the night before the holiday, in honour of St Lucy of Syracuse the saint of light. In this celebration, decorative lights (mostly bearing a Christmas theme)
Church of St Nicholas, Melnik the 2000s. The Church of St Nicholas lies on top of the eponymous hill of Sveti Nikola ("Saint Nicholas") just south of the town of Melnik. The church occupies a location which hosted other sacred buildings in Antiquity. A Thracian sanctuary devoted to the goddess Bendis, the Thracian variant of Artemis, stood at the place before a Christian basilica was built in the 5th century. However, the older church did not survive for long, as it was ruined by the end of the 6th century. The Church of St Nicholas is generally dated to the late 12th century, a time