Italian Christmas

Christmas is a very special occasion, no matter where you celebrate it. Italian Christmas has three distinctive elements: family, religion and food. 

First thing first, let’s start from the language. “Christmas” in Italian is “Natale” and it’s one of the most important holidays or the most important, some Italian people would say. 

Holiday season in Italy arrives later and with much less intensity than it does in other countries I had the possibility to visit.

My girlfriend is American, so it’s obvious for me to compare Italy and America sometime. In the USA you get to hear Christmas carols the day after Halloween, for example.

On the other side, Italians kick off the season later, on December 8th with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This day is celebrated with special masses, and parades. The day marks the celebration of when God blessed Mary with a life free from sin. Banks are closed, but many shops remain open, so there is plenty of time for shopping.

It’s a matter of fact to say Christmas and religion in Italy have a strong bound.

In most of Italian houses, you’ll find a decorated Christmas tree and a presepe, the main focus of decoration for some families. Almost every church in this time of the year will have a presepe (or even more than one!).

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From displays in squares and public areas to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, the nativity is a big sign that Christmas celebrations in Italy have started. If you pay close attention to these scenes, it’s tradition to not display the baby Jesus until the night of December 24th!

Talking about “Christmas Eve” you need to know it’s “Vigilia di Natale” in Italian and it varies from north to south. Families usually come together for a special dinner before making their way to evening or midnight mass. The meal traditionally consists of fish courses and “panettone” for dessert. If you curious and you want to know more I will show you my Christmas Eve on instagram.

There’s no Christmas without Panettone! Originating from Milan, it is a well-deserved classic at the Italian Christmas table.

The main event of Christmas day is always the same… eating everything in sight! Different regions prepare and serve different foods, all traditional to their locality. In my family we often eat meat antipasti, first course such as pasta bolognese or ragù, second course focus on meat as well but I promise we eat some vegetables with it. Dessert is the classic aka panettone.

The end of the Holiday season comes with the Epiphany. While Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) and exchanging presents on Christmas Day are becoming more and more common in Italy, the traditional day for gift giving is on January 6th. La Befana, the old witch. She arrives on her broomstick during the night of January 5^th and fills the stockings with toys and sweets for the good bambini (children) —and lumps of coal for the bad ones.

Merry Christmas, Buon Natale and Happy Holidays to everyone!