Christmas is a major holiday in Italy which means Italians celebrate lots of great, unique Christmas traditions! Across Italy, Natale tends to be a family-centred holiday, a time to stay at home (and eat!) with loved ones. But customs also vary from city to city, from exactly which dishes are served, to when to open presents, making every region an interesting place to enjoy the holidays.
In other countries, Thanksgiving (or even Halloween!) signals the start of the Christmas season. In Italy, though, Christmas officially kicks off with the Day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8. This is when decorations go up (both on the streets and inside Italian homes) and when some Christmas markets start.
Decorations and huge Christmas trees can be found in main piazzas, like in front of the Colosseum or in Milan’s Piazza Duomo, and Babbo Natale (Father Christmas, the Italian version of Santa Claus) spreads holiday cheer.
This holiday, which is both religious and state-sanctioned (meaning lots of offices and businesses will be closed on December 8), doesn’t have anything to do with the day of Mary’s conception. Instead, it celebrates the day when the Church decided that Mary was born without having the stain of original sin.
The eight days before Christmas, also known as the Novena, are filled with singing traditional songs around the neighbourhoods. If you’re in Rome, southern Italy or Sicily, keep an eye out for the zampognari, or bagpipe players—they travel from the nearby mountains to play their merry folklore carols.
Along with the fancy lights, wreaths and trees, presepi (nativity scenes) are displayed in many churches and piazzas. Crafting these ornate works of art by hand remains an artisanal tradition in many parts of the country. In Naples they are world-famous for their hand-made presepi.
To prepare and purify their bodies for Christmas Day, Italians avoid meat on la Vigilia (Christmas Eve). Although the idea is to eat lean, most indulge on multiple courses of fish.
After the family dinner, many Italians head to midnight Mass at their local church to celebrate. (Some Romans even head to the Vatican for Mass with the Pope!).
But traditions vary from city to city: Up north, in Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomite Mountains, thrill-seekers ski down the slopes with torches at midnight to welcome Christmas.
After the “light” Christmas Eve dinner, on Christmas Day, Italians invite their family and friends for a large lunch that usually goes on all day. Many save up to have the most lavish celebration possible, serving up traditional dishes like pasta in brodo (pasta in broth), roasts and traditional desserts like panettone.
Celebrations often extend into December 26 with the national holiday of Santo Stefano; families get together and eat leftover Christmas dishes and sweets.
The official end of the Christmas season, though, isn’t until January 6—the Day of the Epiphany, and the twelfth day of Christmas. On the eve of the Epiphany, families usually prepare a large dinner to mark the end of the holiday season; children are given candy or coal (usually made of black sugar), depending on if they were naughty or nice. After January 6, you’ll see Christmas markets close and decorations start to come down.
Gifts are commonly exchanged on Christmas Day after lunch—sometimes with the belief that Jesus has delivered them. But some smaller, northern Italian cities believe that the blind Saint Lucia brings gifts for children on December 13, so they open them that morning.
Other families may wait until January 6. The Epiphany is when la befana—a kind of “good witch” who is believed to have followed the wise men, but got lost—drops off presents. La befana is a particular tradition in Rome and Bologna, where the main piazzas often host fun activities for children; in Venice, locals believe that la befana arrives every year by boat!
Regardless of when they open their presents, many Italians keep their wrapped gifts on display on the pyramid-shaped ceppo, along with candles and other decorations.
Among the traditions, customs and other rituals typical of Christmas season are:
- The ceppo known as The Tree of Light is a wooden frame with a pyramid shape; it is several feet high and supports many shelves in its several tiers. The cepo has a manger scene and on the shelves above are placed small gifts of fruit, candy and presents. It is also beautifully decorated with pinecones, coloured paper, little candles and pennants. At the top is placed a star or a small doll.
- Urn of Fate:This is a wrapped present for each family member. If you get a present with your name on it, you keep it; otherwise, you try again with other.
- In the Vatican City, the people go to the square at noon on Christmas day to receive the Pope's blessing, he appears at his balcony.
- Another tradition is the burning of the Yule log, which must stay alight until New Year's Day.
The most significant meal of the Christmas Day is the lunch or il pranzo. In the northern Italy dishes such as:
- lo zampone - the skin of the lower pig leg, including the toe little bones, filled with minced meat and sausages
- il cotechino - pig's foot stuffed with spiced minced meat
- Sausages made of pig's intestines
- Smothered in lentils
- Turkey stuffed with chestnuts
- Lamb is also enjoyed with mashed potato and lentils.
- Tortellini in chicken stock
- Crostini with liver pâté
- l’agnello - lamb accompanied with vegetables, mashed potato and lentils.
- torrone - Nougat
- il panettone - the Milanese fruitcake filled with candied fruit
- Gold bread - the traditional cake
- il pandoro - similar to il panettone, only without fruits or raisins
- il panforte - Gingerbread with hazelnuts, honey and almonds
- Vin brule - mulled wine
- Bombardino - Italian version of eggnog
- Punch of rum, mandarin and orange flavours
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
