Kupala Night is a celebration of the summer solstice, which was celebrated on June 24, old (7 July – new) style. Besides Belarus, it gets celebrated in: Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Russia and Ukraine (but those can be/are on other dates). It's just like midsommar (mid summer) – in Sweden, Saint Jeans (St. Jean) - in France, flakagajt (day of fire) – for Albanians, sobotka – for Polish, kresu den (fire day) – for Slovenians, Janovden – for Bulgarians, Ivana Kupala – for Eastern Slavs. This holiday symbolizes the birth of the summer sun – Kupalo. The history of the Christian Church can answer us how the pagan deity Kupalo get the name of Ivan. In the IV century AD,this day was proclaimed the holiday of the birth of John the Baptist - the forerunner of Jesus Christ. As a result of the Christianization of the pagan feast the name "Kupala" got connected with the Christian "Ivan". On the territory of Ukraine for many centuries Kupala customs changed, there were always local differences, they were not everywhere equally preserved - the majority were saved in Polissia as one of the archaic zones of the Slavic world. The first written mention of the Kupalo holiday in Ukraine was in Volyn (1262) and Hustyn (about 1620) chronicles and in "Synopsis" (1674). In the XVIII century, there were a number of documents testifying to the fierce struggle of the Church and secular authorities with the Kupala rite. For example, in 1719 Hetman of Zaporizhzhia Army, Chairman of the Cossack state of the left bank of Ukraine, Ivan Skoropadskyi issued a decree "On parties, fisticuffs, gatherings on the holiday of Ivan Kupala etc.", which granted the right to physically punish (tie up and beat with sticks) and excommunicate from the Church all participants of Kupala games. In 1723, Przemysl Cathedral in Bereziv banned dancing and entertainment near the Kupala fire. In 1769, Catherine II issued a decree banning the holiday. And despite all the prohibitions, the pagan nature of folk rituals was strong. The church also did not ban the holiday, though was trying to fill it with Christian content. It is the pagan essence, mysticism, marriage-erotic motifs of Kupala rite that attracted the attention of many researchers and artists. Thanks to public ritual such art masterpieces as the Opera "Ivana Kupala" by S. Pysarevskyi; folklore work of L. Ukrainka "Kupala in Volyn"; the story of M. Gogol "Night of Ivan Kupala"; the film of Yurii Ilienko "Night on Ivan Kupala"; the Folk Opera of Y. Sankovych "When the fern blooms." The latter during 40 years was banned and only in 2017 its world premiere took place on the stage of the Lviv Opera.
