Lucia is here! ✨ Tomorrow we celebrate one of Sweden’s most cherished – and perhaps most odd-looking – traditions. On 13 December, the traditional Lucia songs fill churches and workplaces across the country. 🎶 At the heart of it is Lucia, the bearer of light in the Swedish winter darkness. She leads a singing procession of candle-carrying handmaidens and ‘star boys’, all dressed in white gowns. 🕯️ No Lucia celebration is complete without gingerbread biscuits and saffron-flavoured buns, along w

The story of Saint Lucias name begins with a tale of discovery and competing claims. French legend speaks of shipwrecked sailors finding an opportunity in 1502, naming the island for Saint Lucy on her feast day. However, a 1520 Spanish map, a product of early navigation technology, labels it Sancta Lucia, suggesting a different origin. Long before European enterprise, the Arawak people called this valuable land Louanalao, the Island of the Iguanas, underscoring its rich natural wealth. This beau