"has become a tradition. Nativity scenes are placed here and along Paseo de la Reforma. During the season it is common to hear Christmas music, both traditional and contemporary. Traditional music includes villancicos (akin to Christmas carols) with popular songs being ""Los pastores a Belén"", ""Riu, riu, chiu: El lobo rabioso"" and ""Los peces en el río"". Contemporary music includes Spanish covers of foreign music, such as Jingle Bells. The most traditional and important Christmas decoration is the nativity scene. Generally set up by December 12 and left on display at least until February 2 and found in homes, businesses"
"with stuffing, gravy and sometimes forcemeat, pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce or redcurrant jelly, bread sauce, roast potatoes (sometimes also boiled or mashed), vegetables (usually boiled or steamed), particularly Brussels sprouts and carrots; dessert consists of Christmas pudding (or plum pudding), sometimes mince pies, Christmas cake or trifle, with brandy butter and/or cream. Italian regional traditions are varied. They are polarised in two areas: Northern Italy and Southern Italy (from Rome southwards). Moreover, often the Christmas Eve Supper is more important than the Christmas Dinner, because the Holy Mass is celebrated at midnight.<br> The primo is usually a kind of"
"left underneath the Christmas tree either by Santa Claus (called ) or, according to older traditions, by Baby Jesus himself. In some regions children receive gifts earlier (at St. Lucy's Day) or later (on Epiphany). December 26, (St. Stephen's Day, in Italian Giorno di Santo Stefano), is also a public holiday in Italy. Festivities extend to the end of the year and then to the Epiphany. On January 6 (Epiphany, in Italian Epifania) decorations are usually taken down, and in some areas female puppets are burned on a pire (called """"falò""""), to symbolize, along with the end of the Christmas"
"In Italy, among other Advent celebrations is the entry into Rome in the last days of Advent of the Calabrian ""pifferari"", or bagpipe players, who play before the shrines of Mary, the mother of Jesus: in Italian tradition, the shepherds played these pipes when they came to the manger at Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus. In recent times the most common observance of Advent outside church circles has been the keeping of an advent calendar or advent candle, with one door being opened in the calendar, or one section of the candle being burned, on each day"
"Strenna Strenna or Strenna di Natale is a gift that is usual to make or receive in Italy at Christmas time. This custom comes from the tradition of ancient Rome which involved the exchange of gifts of good wishes during the Saturnalia, a series of festivities that took place each year between 17 and 23 December, in honor of the god Saturn and preceding the day of the ""Natalis Solis Invicti"". The term derives from the Latin ""Strena"", word probably of Sabine origin, with the meaning ""gift of good luck."" According to Varro, the use was adopted as early as"
"Befana In Italian folklore, Befana () is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to St Nicholas or Santa Claus. A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Catholic ""La Festa dell'Epifania"". ""Epifania"" is a Latin word with Greek origins meaning ""manifestation (of the divinity)."" Some suggest that Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strenia. In popular folklore Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill"
"definitions ""strenne editoriali"" or ""libro strenna"" () for publications placed on the market during the first week of December, having as main purpose to serve as a traditional gift for the Christmas festivities. Strenna Strenna or Strenna di Natale is a gift that is usual to make or receive in Italy at Christmas time. This custom comes from the tradition of ancient Rome which involved the exchange of gifts of good wishes during the Saturnalia, a series of festivities that took place each year between 17 and 23 December, in honor of the god Saturn and preceding the day of"
"Christmas time where eight Whitings were offered in a feast to celebrate St Rumbold In Italy a Christmas Eve feast including fishes is called 'Il Cenone' or 'Big Dinner' or sometimes 'Cena della Vigilia' (the dinner of the vigil). Today the observance the feast of the Vigil is rarely practised in Italy but it survives in Italian American households, where it is better known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes. The children's book ""The Mousehole Cat"" by Antonia Barber was inspired by the traditions and practice of Tom Bawcock's Eve and resulted in a television production of the same"
"period, the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one. While gifts are now given at Christmas by an American style Santa Claus as well, Italy holds fast to its tradition of native gift-givers. On the eve of the 6th, la Befana, the good Epiphany witch, is thought to ride the night skies on broomstick, bringing good children gifts and sweets, and bad ones charcoal or bags of ashes. In other areas it is the Three Wise Men who bring gifts, especially oranges symbolizing gold, and chocolate symbolizing their kisses to good children. In some municipalities,"
"the procession. It is said by locals that in the 1630s, the church of St. Maria del Principle received as a gift from Emmanuela Caracciolo Pignatelli, Duchess of Montecalvo, a new statue of St. George, half bust, and that is what they venerate today. However the statue depicts Saint George in crusader costume, so must date post-13th century. Whether the procession dates from the 8th century, or the 16th, it is now part of a long, well entrenched tradition embraced by local Sangiorgesi. Festive seasons form an important element of the calendar throughout Italy, and especially so for the locals"
"displays. December 16 is the first day of the Christmas Novena, a devotion consisting of prayer said on nine successive days, the last one held on Christmas Eve. The Novena is promoted by the Catholic Church as a staple of Christmas, and is very similar to the posadas celebrated in Mexico. It is a call for an understanding of the religious meaning of Christmas, and a way to counter the commercialism of the Christmas season. Individual traditions concerning the Novena may vary, but most families set up a ""pesebre"" (manger scene), sing religious Christmas carols called villancicos accompanied by tambourines,"
"to match that of Santa. The French Père Noël evolved along similar lines, eventually adopting the Santa image. In Italy, Babbo Natale acts as Santa Claus, while La Befana is the bringer of gifts and arrives on the eve of the Epiphany. It is said that La Befana set out to bring the baby Jesus gifts, but got lost along the way. Now, she brings gifts to all children. In some cultures Santa Claus is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, or Black Peter. In other versions, elves make the toys. His wife is referred to as Mrs. Claus. There has been"
"soup made with pasta (usually filled pasta, like tortellini) boiled in meat or capon broth. The secondo is very different in the two areas. In Northern Italy they usually eat poultry, often filled, or roasted or boiled and seasoned with sauces, like mostarda. In Southern Italy they eat the fried ""capitone"" eel, which is typical of Christmas Eve, because this is a fasting day. On Christmas Day they could eat roast lamb or fish.<br> Christmas sweets are very varied and every region and sub region has its own. Generally speaking, in Northern Italy they eat a cake enriched with candied"
"was commercialised by the Milanese baker and businessman Angelo Motta as an Easter version of the Christmas speciality panettone that Motta foods were producing. Colomba di Pasqua Colomba pasquale or colomba di Pasqua (""Easter Dove"" in English) is an Italian traditional Easter cake, the counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro. The dough for the colomba is made in a similar manner to panettone, with flour, eggs, sugar, natural yeast and butter; unlike panettone, it usually contains candied peel and no raisins. The dough is then fashioned into a dove shape (""colomba"" in Italian) and finally"
"like Matteo Salvatore, Battista Lena, Eugenio Colombo and Enrico Rava. Another culturally unique musical tradition in Southern Italy is the zampogna, a form of bagpipe originally played by the shepherd class and is still prevalent in the mountainous regions of Southern Italy and Sicily. The Zampogna, in addition to secular use is associated with the annunciation of Christ and it is still not uncommon to see a zampogna player at a nativity scene during the Christmas season. The zampogna is most likely a direct descendant of the Greek aulos and more similar Roman tibia utricularis. The ethnic Greeks living in"
"Today, the meal typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. The tradition comes from Southern Italy, where it is known simply as The Vigil (""La Vigilia""). This celebration commemorates the wait, the ""Vigilia di Natale"", for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus. The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from eating meat on the eve of a feast day. As no meat or animal fat could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish (typically fried in oil). It is unclear when the term ""Feast of"
"Colomba di Pasqua Colomba pasquale or colomba di Pasqua (""Easter Dove"" in English) is an Italian traditional Easter cake, the counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro. The dough for the colomba is made in a similar manner to panettone, with flour, eggs, sugar, natural yeast and butter; unlike panettone, it usually contains candied peel and no raisins. The dough is then fashioned into a dove shape (""colomba"" in Italian) and finally is topped with pearl sugar and almonds before being baked. Some manufacturers produce other versions including a popular bread topped with chocolate. The colomba"
"Vertep (Serbian) The Vertep is a Serbian Orthodox Christmas custom commonly practiced in Ukraine by the young male members of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is usually performed on January 6, the Christmas Eve of the Orthodox calendar. This custom is called ""vertep"", and the participants in it – ""vertepaši"". Similarly to ""koledari"", ""vertepaši"" are armed with wooden swords and fence with each other in front of houses. Dressed in costumes, the groups perform a depiction of the birth of Jesus Christ and the days after it in front of an audience. The word “vertep” comes from the Church Slavonic"
"on the last Thursday of January. It dates to the Insubric people (7th–2nd century BC) and consists of a propitiatory rite for the end of winter. Its name is derived from Jupiter, the Roman ""translation"" of an unknown Insubric god of spring. The rite immolates a puppet on a bonfire. The puppet carries all the evils of the past year (similar to the Hebrew ""scapegoat""). During the last two millennia, the manifestation has absorbed other symbolic values, such as the renunciation of idols and the stigmatization of old age. It is diffused throughout Brianza, the Province of Varese and some"
"Christmas creep Christmas creep is a merchandising phenomenon in which merchants and retailers introduce Christmas-themed merchandise or decorations before the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, which in the United States is on the day after Thanksgiving. The term was first used in the mid-1980s. The phenomenon is associated with a desire of merchants to take advantage of particularly heavy Christmas-related shopping well before Black Friday in the United States and before Halloween in Canada. The term ‘Black Friday’ was not used until recently in the UK and Ireland. The increased usage can be traced to the internet being"
"is a Catholic-celebrated holiday with roots that can be traced to Sicily. On 13th of every December it is celebrated with large traditional feasts of home made pasta and various other Italian dishes, with a special dessert of wheat in hot chocolate milk. The large grains of soft wheat are representative of her eyes and are a treat only to be indulged in once a year. In the North of Italy Saint Lucy brings gift to kids between the 12th and 13th of December. Traditionally a bouquet of hay is put outside of the house for Lucy's Donkey and food"
"most famously in Milan, the custom of the ""Corteo dei Re Magi"" (Three Kings Procession) is elaboratedly celebrated with a parade welcoming the Wise Men, and the passing out of sweets. In other places, such as Treviso the day is celebrated with bonfires, the sparks of which are said to predict the future of the new year. Christmas () in Malta is mostly secular, with a number of Christian-related themes. Midnight Masses are popular amng the older generations, and Christmas processions take place on Christmas Eve with a statue of the baby Jesus in towns and villages, led by the"
"of the feast is the illumination of the town with candles. Every inhabitant put a candle on the windowsill and even the boats on the lakefront have candles. There is also a culinary part of the celebration. After the procession the devotees traditionally est pasta e fagioli and ""luganega"", a beef sausage with garlic prepared with potatoes and sauerkraut. Festa della Santissima Pietà The Holy Piety feast (Italian ""festa della Santissima Pietà"" or ""festa dei Lumineri"" or ""festa dei lumieri"") is a catholic feast celebrated on 7 January evening in Cannobio. The ritual consist in lowering a shrine containing a"
"customs celebrating this festival include wearing red clothing, eating Sicilian pastries known as zeppole and giving food to the poor. On Easter Sunday, lamb is served throughout Italy. A typical Easter Sunday breakfast in Umbria and Tuscany includes salami, boiled eggs, wine, Easter Cakes, and pizza. The common cake for Easter Day is the Colomba Pasquale (literally, Easter dove), which is often simply known as ""Italian Easter cake"" abroad. It is supposed to represent the dove, and is topped with almonds and pearl sugar. On Christmas Eve a symbolic fast is observed with the ""cena di magro"" (""light dinner""), a"
"Italian ""presepio"" or Nativity crèche. Further reading Biblical Magi The biblical Magi ( or ; singular: magus), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, were, in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition. Matthew is the only of the four canonical gospels to mention the Magi. Matthew reports that they came ""from the east"" to worship the"
"""Viene, viene la Befana""<br> ""Vien dai monti a notte fonda""<br> ""Come è stanca! la circonda ""<br> ""Neve e gelo e tramontana!""<br> ""Viene, viene la Befana""<br> The English translation is: ""Here comes, here comes the Befana""<br> ""She comes from the mountains in the deep of the night""<br> ""Look how tired she is! All wrapped up""<br> ""In snow and frost and the north wind!"" <br> ""Here comes, here comes the Befana!""<br> Befana In Italian folklore, Befana () is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to St"
"be regarded as a proto-caganer (which would place the origin of this tradition far earlier than previously thought) or just a representation of a pre-combat ritual. In Catalonia, as well as in the rest of Spain and in most of Italy and Southern France, traditional Christmas decorations often consist of a large model of the city of Bethlehem, similar to the Nativity scenes of the English-speaking world but encompassing the entire city rather than just the typical manger scene. This ""pessebre"" is often a reproduction of a pastoral scene—a traditional Catalan ""masia"" (farmhouse) as the central setting with the child"
"Weihnachten Weihnachten is the observance of what is commonly known in English as Christmas Eve in the German-speaking countries like Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is also widespread in countries with a German-speaking minority, such as Transylvania in Romania, South Tyrol in Italy, Eupen in Belgium, and various diasporas such as the German Brazilian and German American communities. Traditions of Weihnachten influenced Christmas and Advent culture throughout the world. In preparation for Weihnachten (Christmas), many families celebrate Advent. This is a time of religious preparation for the arrival of das Christkind (the Christ Child). Traditional advent activities include the Adventskranz"
"Cinepanettone The cinepanettoni (singular:cinepanettone) are a series of farcical comedy films, one or two of which were scheduled for release annually in Italy for the Christmas period. From 1983 until 2011 in Italy were made every year around Christmas time a series of comedies, known as ""cinepanettoni"" (Italian: ""cine"" ""cinema"", ""panettone"" a type of sweet bread traditionally eaten at Christmas). These films are usually focused on the holidays of stereotypical Italians: bungling, wealthy and presumptuous members of the middle class who visit famous, glamorous or exotic places. Films were set for example in the Netherlands (""Merry Christmas"", 2001), Egypt (""Christmas"
"of the Oscan Samnite tribe as a tacit form of humility. Ndocciata Ndocciata is an ancient Christmas festival celebrated in Molise, southern Italy, specifically in the city of Agnone. On the evening of December 24 the “Ndocciata” of Agnone is a parade of a great number of “‘ndocce” (torches), structures with a typical fanwise shape, made of silver fir pinewood pallets. They may be only one torch or, more often, with multiple torches up to twenty fires. Four metres high, “‘ndocce” are transported by different carriers dressed in traditional costumes. The big bell of St. Anthony’s Church is rung, and"
"is held with a statue representing the Virgin, the two girls and the baby Jesus. <br> Ardesio Ardesio (Bergamasque: ) is a ""comune"" in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Italy. On the last Sunday of January people in Ardesio have a goat and donkey exhibition. In this exhibition you can find every kind of goats and donkeys. Every 31 January there is ""La scasada dol zenerù"" (the chasing of January). On this day they celebrate the end of the cold season. A puppet representing January is burnt at the city hall. On 23 June people celebrate the anniversary of"
"the 1970s, churches and community organizations increasingly included animals in nativity pageants. Since then, automobile-accessible ""drive-through"" scenes with sheep and donkeys have become popular. In 1982, Pope John Paul II inaugurated the annual tradition of placing a nativity scene on display in the Vatican City in the Piazza San Pietro before the Christmas Tree. In 2006, the nativity scene featured seventeen new figures of spruce on loan to the Vatican from sculptors and wood sawyers of the town of Tesero, Italy in the Italian Alps. The figures included peasants, a flutist, a bagpipe player and a shepherd named Titaoca. Twelve"
"Christmas carol A Christmas carol (also called a noël, from the French word meaning ""Christmas"") is a carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, and which is traditionally sung on Christmas itself or during the surrounding holiday season. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the broader category of Christmas music. The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to 4th-century Rome. Latin hymns such as ""Veni redemptor gentium"", written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. ""Corde natus ex Parentis"""