One of Poznań’s younger traditions is the celebration of St. Martin’s name day on November 11. In Poland, the days dedicated to certain saints are practically more important than birthdays. In 1994, the Zamek cultural centre organised the first nameday celebration of the
street it is on, Św. Marcin, bringing the ancient tradition of public celebrations of patron saints alive again. Poznań is associated with St. Martin’s day thanks to St. Martin’s church, which originally stood in a settlement outside the walls of Poznan beginning around the 12th century but was brought inside the boundaries at the end of the 18th century. Unsurprisingly the street gained its name from the church - - though during communist times it was changed to Armii Czerwonej or Red Army street before being restored to Św. Marcin after 1989.

The festival naturally starts with a high mass in the aforementioned St. Martin’s Church. Afterwards, St. Martin, dressed in a Roman legionnaire’s costume and on a horse, heads a colourful parade up ulica Św. Marcin to the square in front of the Zamek (castle) building. There, the mayor hands him the keys to the city, marking the start of the celebrations.

Outside, there’s a street market complete with knights enacting medieval jousting tournaments. Inside Zamek there are special exhibitions, concerts and performances. The day ends with fireworks lighting the skies above.

Such a special holiday calls for a very specific treat to honour St. Martin, and that’s rogale świętomarcińskie, a crescent-shaped croissant-like pasty filled with a poppy seed and almond paste and topped with a healthy pile of sugar y glaze. Legend has it that the tradition of rogale began at the end of the 19th century when the parish priest of St Martin’s urged the richer parishioners to help the poor as winter approached. A baker by the name of Józef Melzer prayed to St. Martin for ideas and turning to the street was inspired as the horse carrying the saint in the parade slipped a shoe – hence the crescent shape of the pastries.

So just who was this Martin fellow, and why is he worthy of such sweets and fanfare (not to mention sainthood status)? Born in what is now Hungary in the fourth century, Martin was raised in Italy where he became a member of the Imperial Horse Guard in the Roman army. Stationed in France he came across a shivering beggar and decided to cut his cloak in half to share with the man.

That evening Martin’s dreamed of Jesus wearing the half-cloak (in some stories, Martin wakes to find his cloak fully restored) and decided at 18 to be baptised. After being discharged from the army he became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers (Saint Hilary nowadays), a proponent of Trinitarian Christianity that was at odds with the Arianism of the day. Later Martin was made the bishop of Tours and as bishop Martin continued to live a largely hermetic existence, his work included sowing Christianity among the Druidic heathens and promoting the interests of the Church at the Imperial court in Trier. One such example includes Martin’s efforts to save Priscillian, a Christian bishop he opposed, from punishment by a civil tribunal that accused Priscillian of heresy. Despite Martin’s efforts Priscillian was the first person in the history of Christianity to be executed for heresy, and the sadly disappointed Martin died in Gaul in 397.