For Christmas fans, Italy is probably like paradise. That's because Italians celebrate Christmas four times over. The holiday stretches across a whole month, from December 6 to January 6 of the new year. So by early December the festively decorated Christmas tree already stands in the living room. Many customs of the Italian Christmas, however, are also familiar from Germany and other European countries.
How Christmas is celebrated in Italy
Italian Christmas doesn't begin with Christmas Eve but with Santa Nicola, St. Nicholas Day on December 6. Much like in Germany, small gifts are given that day, which the children find in the morning outside their bedroom door or, increasingly in recent years, under the Christmas tree. In public squares and churches, as well as at home, festively decorated nativity scenes and Christmas trees are already up. Unlike the nativity scenes, though, Christmas trees don't have a very long tradition in Italy - only in the last few decades has it become customary to put up and decorate one.
About a week later, the next holiday is already on the calendar. On December 13, Italians celebrate the 'messenger of light,' Santa Lucia. The Sicilian woman, born in 281 AD, left her entire fortune to the poor. This is commemorated by the traditional sweet Torrone dei poveri, a sticky mixture of sugar and chickpeas. The inexpensively made treat is therefore often given to those in need. On December 24, cannon shots fired from Castel Sant'Angelo ring in the celebration, while families at home enjoy a feast together, much as in Germany. This is followed by a raffle, similar to the Spanish Christmas, and in many Christian communities by attending Midnight Mass, a Christmas church service.
The most important Christmas holiday in Italy, too, is December 25. On this day the whole country celebrates the birth of the Christ child (il Bambinello Gesù). It starts early in the morning with the gift-giving and the presents for the children, followed by a hearty Christmas meal. The day is also significant because the Pope gives his blessing to the faithful around the world in St. Peter's Square. The fourth and final holiday is finally January 6. Here, too, there is traditionally one more round of gift-giving. That's when the good witch La Befana comes down the chimney at night to leave presents for the well-behaved children and small lumps of coal in the shoes of the naughty ones.
Merry Christmas in Italian: Buon Natale!
At a glance
- There are four Christmas days in Italy
- Celebrations are held on December 6, 13, and 25, and on January 6
- The gifts are brought by the Epiphany witch Befana
- A Christmas meal the Italian way
Unlike in Germany, no meat dishes are served on December 24. Instead, antipasti, fish, and vegetables set the table among family. On Christmas Day, the Italians bring out slightly heavier artillery: often as early as midday, there is meat in abundance. Typical starters, though, are the Italian egg salad Insalata Russa, pasta appetizers such as Primo Piatto, or Raviolini del plin - small ravioli with meat sauce or butter. The main course then features, for example, roast veal or roast wild boar. For dessert there's the Milanese cake specialty Panettone.
