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    Christmas in Italy

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    Vali Amza
    Christmas in Italy is celebrated over several weeks from early December until January 6th. Families decorate their homes and visit Christmas markets during this time. On December 6th, children leave letters and treats for St. Nicholas. If they were good, they receive fruits and nuts, and if naughty they receive coal-like sweets. Nativity scenes called presepes are displayed in churches and homes as one of the most important Christmas decorations, especially in Southern Italy. In the Abruzzi region, bagpipers called zampognari symbolize shepherds coming to see the newborn Jesus by playing music in towns during the season.

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    Christmas in Italy

    Uploaded by

    Vali Amza
    67 views1 page
    Christmas in Italy is celebrated over several weeks from early December until January 6th. Families decorate their homes and visit Christmas markets during this time. On December 6th, children leave letters and treats for St. Nicholas. If they were good, they receive fruits and nuts, and if naughty they receive coal-like sweets. Nativity scenes called presepes are displayed in churches and homes as one of the most important Christmas decorations, especially in Southern Italy. In the Abruzzi region, bagpipers called zampognari symbolize shepherds coming to see the newborn Jesus by playing music in towns during the season.

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    Christmas in Italy

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    Christmas in Italy is celebrated over several weeks from early December until January 6th. Families decorate their homes and visit Christmas markets during this time. On December 6th, children leave letters and treats for St. Nicholas. If they were good, they receive fruits and nuts, and if naughty they receive coal-like sweets. Nativity scenes called presepes are displayed in churches and homes as one of the most important Christmas decorations, especially in Southern Italy. In the Abruzzi region, bagpipers called zampognari symbolize shepherds coming to see the newborn Jesus by playing music in towns during the season.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    67 views1 page

    Christmas in Italy

    Uploaded by

    Vali Amza
    Christmas in Italy is celebrated over several weeks from early December until January 6th. Families decorate their homes and visit Christmas markets during this time. On December 6th, children leave letters and treats for St. Nicholas. If they were good, they receive fruits and nuts, and if naughty they receive coal-like sweets. Nativity scenes called presepes are displayed in churches and homes as one of the most important Christmas decorations, especially in Southern Italy. In the Abruzzi region, bagpipers called zampognari symbolize shepherds coming to see the newborn Jesus by playing music in towns during the season.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 1

    Christmas in Italy

    Amza Denis Valentin

    Christmas in Italy is celebrated over several weeks as Italians celebrate from early
    December, depending on the region, until the day of Epiphany, on the 6th of January. Especially
    the children look forward to the start of the Christmas season in December when Christmas trees
    are put up and houses are decorated.
    In front of St Peters cathedral in Vatican City (see image above), there is a huge Christmas
    tree put up and many families buy tickets to get entrance to the festive midnight-mass which is
    held by the Pope.
    There is a festive atmosphere during the whole of December. Christmas markets with various
    stalls with typical food, Christmas sweets and gifts can be visited in many towns especially in
    Italy's northern Alto-Adige Region. In the image above you see the Christmas market in Bolzano
    and the image below shows a popular Christmas market in Rome.
    On 6th of December, many families celebrate St Nicholas Day. Children write letters to St
    Nicholas asking for gifts and they hang up either a sock or put a plate on the table on Nicholas
    day’s eve. Sometimes even a St Nicholas visits the homes of children. Then children sing a
    Christmas carol or recite a poem.
    If the children have been good children throughout the last year, they will get some fruits,
    nuts and sweets from St Nicholas, the naughty ones get usually also a sweet, but one looking like
    coal. Find more insights to St Nicholas Day on Staci’s website here.
    During the festive season and Christmas in Italy, a nativity scene, a ‘presepe’, is usually put
    up in churches, town squares and often in houses and is for many the most important parts of
    Christmas decorations. Especially the people of Southern Italy are fond of their nativity scene
    displays as the image below (taken in Messina/Sicily) shows.
    Did you know that the nativity scene display with a crib filled with straw, originally stems
    from Italy and is now common in many countries around the world. It is said that the crib scene
    was first used, when San Francis held his Christmas mass in front of a nativity scene and the
    people were admiring the beauty of the miracle of Christ’s birth in a manger.
    In the Abruzzi region, there is a tradition that bagpipers, so called ‘zampognari’ come into the
    towns and play their flutes and bagpipes for the people. They symbolize the shepherds who come
    in search of the new born Jesus baby. Below see two Italians dressed as ‘zampognari’. (Image
    below by Domenico Vitti, settefrati.net)

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