World Calendars
Julian date today
Julius Caesar introduced this calendar in 45 BC. Several Orthodox churches still follow it, which is why their Christmas falls on 7 January.
29 October 2026
Wednesday, 13 days behind the Gregorian
- In the Gregorian calendar
- Wednesday 11 November 2026
- This day began
- At midnight, as Wednesday 11 November 2026 begins
- This day ends
- At midnight, as Thursday 12 November 2026 begins
- Year 2026 began
- Wednesday 14 January 2026
- Next new year
- Thursday 14 January 2027 (in 64 days)
- This year has
- 365 days in 12 months
- Year 1 began
- 30 December 1 BC (Gregorian calendar counted backwards)
- Who uses it
- Orthodox churches of Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Georgia and others, and Mount Athos
- Used
- From 45 BC; Russia kept it until 1918 and Greece until 1923
- How it works
- 365 days, plus a leap day every fourth year with no exceptions
- Unusual detail
- Runs 13 days behind the modern calendar, and 14 days from March 2100
Next holidays in this calendar
57 days
Orthodox Christmas 25 December 2026 (Julian calendar)
7 January 2027 · Julian
64 days
Old New Year 1 January 2027 (Julian calendar)
14 January 2027 · Julian, Roman
172 days
Orthodox Easter 19 April 2027 (Julian calendar)
2 May 2027 · Julian
How the Julian calendar works
Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year, so the average year is 365.25 days. The tropical year, the cycle of the seasons, is about 365.2422 days, so the Julian calendar gains one day on the seasons every 128 years. The months have the lengths Caesar's reform gave them, the same as today.
| No. | Month | Days |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | January | 31 |
| 2 | February | 28 (29 in every fourth year) |
| 3 | March | 31 |
| 4 | April | 30 |
| 5 | May | 31 |
| 6 | June | 30 |
| 7 | July | 31 |
| 8 | August | 31 |
| 9 | September | 30 |
| 10 | October | 31 |
| 11 | November | 30 |
| 12 | December | 31 |
The gap with the Gregorian calendar grows by a day in each century year that divides by 100 but not by 400, such as 1900 and 2100: the Julian calendar has a 29 February in those years and the Gregorian does not. In the 3rd century the two calendars matched. From 1 March 1900 to 28 February 2100 (Gregorian) the gap is 13 days, so 1 January Julian falls on 14 January Gregorian, and Christmas on 25 December Julian falls on 7 January. The gap becomes 14 days on 1 March 2100 Gregorian, which is 16 February 2100 Julian.
Variants and the method used here
This page applies the four-year rule to every year, backwards and forwards. The weekday is the same in both calendars. Dates before 1 January 45 BC are proleptic: the calendar did not yet exist. After Caesar's death the priests added a leap day every three years; Augustus then ordered twelve years without one, and the regular cycle resumed in AD 4 or AD 8, depending on the reconstruction. Dates in that period here follow the regular rule, so they can differ from the date used in Rome at the time. Years always start on 1 January here. In England and its colonies the legal year began on 25 March until 1751.
The Orthodox churches of Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Poland, North Macedonia and Georgia keep the Julian calendar, as do the monasteries of Mount Athos and the Old Calendarists. Most Orthodox churches use it to calculate Easter. Others, among them the churches of Constantinople, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, and the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church since 2012, use the Revised Julian calendar for fixed feasts. Its dates match the Gregorian calendar from 1600 until February 2800.
A short history
Julius Caesar proposed the reform in 46 BC, and it took effect by his edict on 1 January 45 BC. Sosigenes of Alexandria is generally considered its main designer. The year 46 BC, called the last year of confusion, ran to more than 440 days.
By 1582 the March equinox had moved to around 10 or 11 March, and the Gregorian reform dropped ten days. Many countries kept the Julian calendar much longer: Russia changed in 1918 and Greece in 1923. The Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković proposed the Revised Julian calendar, and a synod in Constantinople adopted it in May 1923. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine moved Christmas to 25 December Gregorian in 2023.
Sources
How this site calculates the date: Julian calendar: a leap year every fourth year, no exceptions. Used by several Orthodox churches.