The Armenian church took from the pagan period the tradition of celebrating matagh, practiced on the occasion of certain reliogious holidays of the Armenians – it consists in sacrificing a bull and splittiing it to 40 families or of a ram for 7 families, while the skin and fat is reserved for the priest/ The Madach is usually celelbrated on December 14th, the sacrifice being offered after the holy service. In the Armenian community of Botosani it is considered to be a traditional holiday.