Holidays in Italy

How to celebrate Christmas in Italy

Before the onset of the new 2018, nothing was left. Already in full swing is preparing for the most celebrated and favorite holiday of the year. Festive Christmas trees have been standing on the streets for a long time, Santas and Snow Maidens are walking, and children are waiting for gifts. However, before the New Year, the Catholic Church is preparing to celebrate Christmas - one of the most revered holidays in the church calendar.

For Italians, the New Year is not such an important celebration as Christmas, which comes on December 25th. In no country is this holiday celebrated as in this believing country. Moreover, it is worth considering that the Pope first of all addresses the inhabitants of Italy, and only then to the rest of the world.

The day before Christmas

At a festive Christmas table, Italians sit on the evening of December 24 - on the eve of the holiday. Believers Italians consider it their duty to defend the Christmas service, which begins at exactly midnight and lasts about two hours. Residents of Rome and the Vatican rush to St. Peter's Square, where the pope holds the mass.

By Christmas, every temple in Italy must certainly be decorated with figures of angels, as well as a small manger with a figure of the baby Jesus Christ.

Family dinner

The Italians have this saying: “Celebrate Christmas with your family, and New Year with anyone you want” (Natale con tuoi, Capodanno con chi vuoi). Therefore, by December 25, Italians come to their parents in order to get together for one big family dinner.

Residents of Italy will never sit at the festive table without being sure that the whole house sparkles with cleanliness. At the end of December, they carry out general cleaning, brushing every speck of dust on tables and dressers.

They don’t eat meat at Christmas in Italy, so most dishes are fish. This trend is especially observed in the southern regions of the country. At the festive table you can find dishes such as fried cod, eel or perch, pasta with seafood. In Rome, one of the most popular dishes is capitole, a fried or baked eel with caviar.

However, on December 25, when it is already possible to eat meat, fried sausages, baked lamb, lasagna, artichokes and other dishes appear on the Christmas table. It is noteworthy that the Italians have their own beliefs about food at a festive dinner on Christmas. So, the inhabitants of a sunny country are sure that lentils should certainly be on the Christmas table. According to signs, the more lentils you eat on this day, the richer you will become next year. One of the most popular dishes for Christmas is turkey, which is baked with nuts, potatoes, apples and chestnuts.

As for the festive dessert, usually this is the so-called Panettone cake, decorated with fruits, chocolate and other sweets. Legend has it that a young man, Tony, fell in love with the beautiful daughter of a baker, to whom he got a job as an apprentice, to be closer to his lover. Later, the guy, inspired by love and inspiration, baked a pie in the form of a dome. Tony's cake (pane di Toni) was very popular among the townspeople. And to this day, he is invariably present at a gala dinner with almost every family.

Christmas gifts to Italian children are distributed by the local Santa Claus - Babbo Natale. Usually, children receive toys, books as a gift, and adults, as a rule, useful things for the home.

Watch the video: How do Italian People Celebrate Christmas? (November 2024).

Popular Posts

Category Holidays in Italy, Next Article

To Rome with a child: what to show children in Rome
Cities of Italy

To Rome with a child: what to show children in Rome

If you are an adult and are planning a trip to Rome, you don’t really have to worry about whether the trip will be interesting. Rome is so beautiful and amazing that impressions are guaranteed to you, even if you are far from deep knowledge in history, architecture and art. Another thing is a trip to Rome with a child.
Read More
One-day tours from Venice: where to go for 1 day
Cities of Italy

One-day tours from Venice: where to go for 1 day

Many tourists consider Venice as a place for a trip for 1 day. They arrive early in the morning by train or cruise ship, hire a Russian-speaking guide around the city and leave the same day, leaving for a new point on their route. Of course, this is not a metropolis and it is technically quite possible to see all the main attractions of Venice in a short visit.
Read More
10 ideas to see in the Vatican. Part II
Cities of Italy

10 ideas to see in the Vatican. Part II

In the continuation of the TOP-10 post of ideas for what to see in the Vatican, today BlogoItaliano will stop at five places and ideas that, from our subjective point of view, are the most interesting in a dwarf state located in the very center of Rome. However, not all of the following can be called places ... Rather, as the Americans would say, Must see ... Called to ensure peace and security of the Pope, the Swiss Guards are difficult to take seriously.
Read More