Belgrade (AFP) – Men from a Serbian medieval knights organisation dived into Belgrade’s chilly Sava river to retrieve a wooden cross on Thursday, in a shivery religious rite held on the eve of Epiphany.
The icy swim is an annual ritual held in many Orthodox Christian countries during Epiphany, a holiday marking Jesus’s baptism in the River Jordan.
After a ceremony that saw musicians play alongside men and women dressed in medieval garb, two dozen men in swimming trunks jumped off a small river barge to retrieve the crucifix tossed into the waters by an Orthodox priest.
They swiftly swam to the Sava’s shore where they were cheered by a small crowd of onlookers.
“The worst moment is just before you jump into the water, you don’t know what to expect,” said Miodrag Mokric, one of the swimmers, who are all part of the Royal Order of Knights.
The group aims to revive “the knightly spirit of the Middle Ages, which is very strong in Serbia,” said its president, Zoran Mrdjenovich, who was wearing an embroidered velvet robe.
The so-called knights organise a large medieval-themed festival in Serbia every summer.
The Epiphany swim is an old tradition that was revived in Serbia two decades ago with the blessing of Serbian Patriarch, explained Mrdjenovich.
“For 20 years now it has been taking place in all the rivers of Serbia,” he told AFP.
Most of the swims take place during the Epiphany celebration on 19 January.
“At this event, there is no competition, that is, it is not important to arrive first, the most important thing is to be together,” Mrdjenovich explained, saying the swim was symbolic of Christ’s teachings.
“We show that the best way to live together is without being forced to hit your neighbour underwater or take off his suit to arrive first,” he added.
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