Cossack wedding tradition revived on Don

Samarskaya Cossack settlement (on the bank of the river Don in the Rostov region, South Russia) became stage of the first traditional Cossack wedding.

Spokesmen for the regional secular wedding centre in Rostov explained that the ceremony carefully copied Cossack old traditions.

Cossacks were patrolling the settlement as it waited for the groom and bride's arrival. Their coming was marked with cannon fire that summoned the settlement's residents to the Circle (parley) meant to decide the fate of the future couple.

Meeting in the middle of the circle, the groom and the bride uttered the old formula of faith. "Be my wife," "be my husband," ran the pledge. The assembled Cossacks praised their choice by screeching "good!", and the circle dubbed them spouses.

Their names were put down in the Historical Cossack Book where their wedding agreement was also signed, and only after that civil formalities were completed.

The idea of returning old Cossack traditions to the Don region after they were eradicated by Soviet regime is deemed to promise long and steady marriages that have grown so few in the last years. Cossacks cannot break the oath they brought before their fellows.