While Christmas trees and decorations have been taken down in many countries and communities, celebrations are just beginning in others.
In Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Israel and several other nations, including Australia, many Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholics and Coptic Christians are celebrating Christmas now.
Rachael Hocking reports.
The sound of carols fill the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.
For Orthodox Christians across much of the world, it is Christmas Eve.
The celebrations in many countries, like Russia, are playing out similar to Christmas ones elsewhere, families gathering at home, handing out presents and sharing Christmas meals.
The main difference is the celebrations are held 13 days later than those where the Gregorian calendar, introduced by a pope in the 1580s, is used.
Father Mark Attalla, from Saint Verena and Saint Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church in Melbourne, says the reason behind the different dates is just that, different calendars.
"December 25th is on what we consider to be the Gregorian calendar. Now that was just a timing difference, because the Coptic Church is on the ancient Julius Caesar calendar, which predates the Gregorian calendar that commenced in the 16th century."
About 1am on January the 7th, many Coptic Orthodox families are traditionally ending 40 days of fasting on a no meat, no dairy diet.
The traditions include exchanging presents and eating traditional dishes such as waraa enab, or vine leaves stuffed with rice, capsicum, tomato and herbs.
Father Attalla says, of the 20,000 members of the Coptic community in Victoria alone, many are celebrating Christmas on this day.
It is different for the Greek Orthodox community in Australia, for example, which largely celebrates Christmas on December the 25th.
But Father Attalla says it would be a blessing to have January the 7th recognised as a public holiday.
"Because a lot of the young people that came last night, I noticed, were exhausted and had young children, and they were very concerned about going to work the next day. So I imagine there's all these Coptic Orthodox people sleepy or bleary-eyed in the workplace today after having a full meal after midnight."
Similar Christmas traditions are shared among most countries which observe the Julian calendar, but others are unique to particular nations.
The sound of splashing water and cheering crowds can be heard in Greece on January the 6th as some Orthodox Christians jump into the sea to celebrate Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day.
Each year, young men brave chilly waters to retrieve a large wooden cross, believing it will bring them good fortune.
But this year, some chose to celebrate the holiday in memory of those people who lost their lives making the crossing from Turkey to Greece.
A ceremony was held on the Greek island of Lesbos, the gateway to Europe for many immigrants and refugees.
A floral wreath in the shape of the peace sign was thrown into the sea.
The president of the Refugee Club in Lesbos, Makis Venetas, says it honours drowned refugees.
(Translated)"We honour the memory of the small refugee children that have drowned. They're not to blame, no matter if they're Orthodox, Muslim or Catholic. They're small children that drowned in the Aegean Sea, and that's really shocking to us."
In Ethiopia, Orthodox Christians dress in white to attend church services and play sporting tournaments afterward.
And in Serbia, Christmas Eve was marked by burning dried oak branches at sermons held outside churches.
The tree symbolises Christ and his entry into the world.
Meanwhile, in the Vatican, Pope Francis marked the Feast of Epiphany, the end of the Christmas season for Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians.
He had a special greeting for Orthodox Christians.
(Translated) "Dear brothers and sisters, today we express our spiritual closeness to our Eastern Christian brothers and sisters, Catholic and Orthodox, many of whom will celebrate the Lord's birth tomorrow. We extend our best wishes for peace and goodness to them. Let us also greet them with a great round of applause."
While it is a day of joy for many, some are spending the day in fear.
In Egypt, police have been searching Coptic churches in the capital Cairo for explosive devices.
Following the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, angry protesters attacked a number of Coptic churches and homes in different parts of Egypt.
Today, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi promised to fix all Coptic churches damaged in sectarian attacks.
