Tens of thousands of people across Russia...
District, told journalists.The feast"s peculiar feature is the rite of the Great Blessing of Water, performed in Russian churches twice - on January 18, on the eve of the feast, and on Epiphany proper, after Divine Liturgy.
Holy water is then given to believers, who store it for long periods and use it to cure illnesses and bless themselves or things and premises around them. Some people think any water - even from the taps on the kitchen sink - poured or bottled on Epiphany becomes holy.
Close to 100,000 people came to Moscow"s 268 Orthodox churches to bottle holy water on Tuesday.
In southern Russia"s city of Sochi, where the air and water temperature is some 12 degrees Celsius, about 3,000 people jumped into the Black Sea and started swimming at midnight on Tuesday to celebrate the feast.
Some 20,000 people dipped into cold water during the night in the city of Nizhny Novgorod in the Volga Federal District.