Is there a better way to experience Christmas Italian-style than to visit il Bel Paese during the holidays? The weather in most parts of the country is mild by comparison to many other parts of the world, the storefronts of panifici and panetteri (bakery shops) are stocked with mouth-watering goodies, churches have extravagant Nativity scenes, and town centers are often festooned with lights.
Many of the local religious processions have strong pagan roots, marking important dates on the calendar subsequently adopted and sanctified by the church. Here are just a few of the many traditional festivals, events, and religious celebrations that take place in Italy during the Christmas holidays:
Abbadia di San Salvatore: Small town near Montalcino where the Fiaccole di Natale or Festival of Christmas Torches (Christmas Eve) is celebrated. Carols and torchlight processions in memory of the shepherds from the first Christmas Eve.
Prato: Display of the Holy Girdle (December 25 and December 26). La Cattedrale di Santo Stefano, with a Pisan-Romanesque façade, has Donatello's and Michelozzo's beautiful Pulpit of the Sacred Girdle, with a canopy lodged like a halo on the corner of the church. This unique addition was constructed for the ceremonial display of the girdle of the Madonna, a garment handed to the ever-incredulous Thomas the Apostle at her Assumption. The girdle (la Sacra Cintola) was supposedly bequeathed by Thomas to a priest, one of whose descendants married a crusader from Prato, who in turn brought it back to his home town in the twelfth century. The story is detailed in the chapel immediately left of the entrance in Agnolo Gaddi's fresco cycle of The Legend of the Holy Girdle (1392 -95).
Naples: Throughout Italy representations of the Nativity are the focus of Christmas celebrations. They may take the form of the elaborate crèches that can be seen in churches everywhere or they may be live pageants, it settings reproducing the humble surroundings of the actual Nativity. Antique crèche figures are featured in many Nativity scenes especially in the churches and museums of Naples, and in particular in Certosa e Museo Nazionale di San Martino.
Abruzzo: On December 24 in this southeastern province of Italy there are many towns that welcome the coming of Christ with traditional bonfires (ndoccia or farchie) in the main squares.
Rome: Destination of choice for many travelers at any time of year, Christmas in Rome offers a multitude of ways to mark the holidays. As the center of Roman Catholicism, the Vatican has many religious ceremonies. There are a series of Christmas masses celebrated, with midnight mass being one of the most important. The Pope also delivers his annual messaggio Urbi et Orbi in English, Italian, and a multitude of other languages for the benefit of the many Christians throughout the world. In the center of Piazza San Pietro is a life-size crèche.
Cortina d'Ampezzo: At midnight on Christmas Eve hundreds of people ski down an Alpine peak carrying torches in the Fiaccolate degli Sciatori ("Skiers' torchlight parade").
Bologna: On New Year's Eve the Fiera del Bue Grasso ("fat ox fair") takes place. The animal is decorated from horns to tail with flowers and ribbons. Cannons are fired, church bells are rung, everyone lights a candle and fireworks are set off. Finally, a special lottery is held; the winner gets to keep the ox. The procession ends just before midnight in Piazza San Petronio.
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