{"id":1390,"date":"2009-11-24T15:40:57","date_gmt":"2009-11-24T14:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/?p=1390"},"modified":"2009-11-24T15:45:13","modified_gmt":"2009-11-24T14:45:13","slug":"christmas-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1391\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg\" alt=\"natale 1 gr\" width=\"287\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg 287w, https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr-215x300.jpg 215w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 287px) 100vw, 287px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Christmas <\/strong>is almost all over the world, the most important feast of the year. It is celebrated on <strong>25 December<\/strong>, for the Christian people it celebrates the birth of Jesus&#8217; Christ and for many people in the world it is the <strong>feast of the family.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christmas has pagan origins and the 25th of December was already a celebration day in ancient Rome.<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays when we speak of Christmas we actually refer to a <strong>period of time ranging from 24th\u00c2\u00a0 December to 6th\u00c2\u00a0 January,<\/strong> precisely including Christmas Eve (December 24) <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1393\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-presepe.jpg\" alt=\"natale presepe\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/>Christmas (25 December), Boxing Day (December 26) New Year&#8217;s Eve (December 31, evening &#8211; 1 January) and Epiphany or Epiphany (January 6), the latter usually represented by a nice old lady,the <strong>Befana, <\/strong>who, on the night between 5 and 6 January, comes to children-homes filling the stockings with sweets for good children and with coal for the bed ones.<\/p>\n<p>In Italy it is a tradition to decorate houses with <strong>crib and\u00c2\u00a0 tree<\/strong>. The crib is the scene of Jesus&#8217; birth represented with little statues. The tree is a fir, a true or a false one, decorated with variously colored balls and lights. Traditionally, crib and Christmas tree should be mounted on 8 December and put away the evening of January 6, but in modern life these dates are no longer respected.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1392\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-2gr.jpg\" alt=\"natale 2gr\" width=\"266\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-2gr.jpg 266w, https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-2gr-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For the families of many parts of the world Christmas offers the <strong>opportunity to meet, eat and exchange gifts.<\/strong> The Italian family is no exception. The love of good food at this festival is one of its major expressions. Christmas is a marathon where Italians are ready to <strong>savor every kind of dish,<\/strong> from sweet to savory, from fish to meat, all obviously more abundant than usual portions.<\/p>\n<p>Menus can vary from regional recipes to new features or &#8220;trends&#8221;, influenced by new ingredients.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>dinner on 24 December<\/strong> is often based on <strong>fish<\/strong>. Even the <strong>&#8220;antipasto&#8221; <\/strong>is rich in these occasions. In fact, the antipasto becomes crucial in any important meal and generally it offers appetizers that can be matched to the main menu, respecting the presence \/ absence of meat or fish.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1394\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/panettone-2.jpg\" alt=\"panettone 2\" width=\"160\" height=\"240\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For the<strong> first course<\/strong> ranging from risotto fisherman to the most diverse and sought after fish sauces.<\/p>\n<p>One of the must of the <strong>second course<\/strong> is the fried fish or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fritto misto\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. If the dish is well prepared it is lightweight and is often accompanied by other tasty fried vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>For<strong> Christmas lunch on December 25<\/strong> meat is often prepared. The first consists of <strong>lasagne<\/strong> or <strong>cannelloni<\/strong>, while the second course is very frequently big plate of mixed grill <strong>meat or roast beef.<\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1395\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/panettone.jpg\" alt=\"panettone\" width=\"160\" height=\"240\" \/><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Finally however, various <strong>cheeses <\/strong>and <strong>fresh fruit, dried fruit and sweets <\/strong>in large quantities, all accompanied by <strong>good wine, <\/strong>red or white, and rivers of <strong>spumante<\/strong>, <strong>coffee <\/strong>and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<strong>Ammazzacaff\u00c3\u00a8<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (liqueur).<br \/>\nIf the menu can&#8217; vary according to the region the presence of Panettone, Pandoro and Torrone is sure all over Italy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Panettone <\/strong>and <strong>Pandoro <\/strong>are the Christmas cakes par excellence.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>The Panettone<\/strong><\/span>, of Lombard origin, is characterized by raisins and candied fruit.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>The Pandoro<\/strong><\/span>, original of Verona, has a soft and golden brown pulp and it is served with a dusting of powdered sugar on it.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1396\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/pandoro.jpg\" alt=\"pandoro\" width=\"185\" height=\"240\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>The Torrone<\/strong><\/span>,\u00c2\u00a0 typical of Siena, in Italy means Christmas too and it is available with honey or chocolate with almonds and pistachios inside.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Photos from the albums of: Pigliapost, Giulio GND B, YUICHI.SAKURABA, cleda74, Sifu Renka, Torremountain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/holidays-in-tuscany\/florence-area\/city-of-florence\/hotels-in-florence\/\">Were to stay and eat in Florence.<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1397\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/torrone.jpg\" alt=\"torrone\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Italian style Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that unite the peninsula from north to south: food, decorations, mistletoes, poinsettias and an atmosphere that brings together families and friends in an climate of friendship and cordiality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[788,849,850,851,852,853],"class_list":["post-1390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-italy","tag-christmas-in-italy","tag-italian-christmas-cuisin","tag-italian-christmas-traditions","tag-pandoro","tag-panettone","tag-torrone"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Christmas in Italy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Italian style Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that unite the peninsula from north to south: food, decorations, mistletoes, poinsettias and an atmosphere that brings together families and friends in an climate of friendship and cordiality.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas in Italy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Italian style Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that unite the peninsula from north to south: food, decorations, mistletoes, poinsettias and an atmosphere that brings together families and friends in an climate of friendship and cordiality.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Italy Travel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-11-24T14:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2009-11-24T14:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"grazia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@crossingitaly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@crossingitaly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"grazia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/\",\"name\":\"Christmas in Italy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-24T14:40:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-11-24T14:45:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/9d43c238e63f6af77affd38fa5bbe4ab\"},\"description\":\"An Italian style Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that unite the peninsula from north to south: food, decorations, mistletoes, poinsettias and an atmosphere that brings together families and friends in an climate of friendship and cordiality.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg\",\"width\":\"287\",\"height\":\"400\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christmas in Italy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/\",\"name\":\"Italy Travel\",\"description\":\"Holidays in Italy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/9d43c238e63f6af77affd38fa5bbe4ab\",\"name\":\"grazia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0b062445f8bd459eba3f64480d606a34c95f6f1f1f2ceb823e0d947363f72e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0b062445f8bd459eba3f64480d606a34c95f6f1f1f2ceb823e0d947363f72e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"grazia\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/author\/grazia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christmas in Italy","description":"An Italian style Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that unite the peninsula from north to south: food, decorations, mistletoes, poinsettias and an atmosphere that brings together families and friends in an climate of friendship and cordiality.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christmas in Italy","og_description":"An Italian style Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that unite the peninsula from north to south: food, decorations, mistletoes, poinsettias and an atmosphere that brings together families and friends in an climate of friendship and cordiality.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/","og_site_name":"Italy Travel","article_published_time":"2009-11-24T14:40:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2009-11-24T14:45:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"grazia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@crossingitaly","twitter_site":"@crossingitaly","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"grazia","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/","name":"Christmas in Italy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg","datePublished":"2009-11-24T14:40:57+00:00","dateModified":"2009-11-24T14:45:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/9d43c238e63f6af77affd38fa5bbe4ab"},"description":"An Italian style Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that unite the peninsula from north to south: food, decorations, mistletoes, poinsettias and an atmosphere that brings together families and friends in an climate of friendship and cordiality.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/natale-1-gr.jpg","width":"287","height":"400"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/1390\/christmas-in-italy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Christmas in Italy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/","name":"Italy Travel","description":"Holidays in Italy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/9d43c238e63f6af77affd38fa5bbe4ab","name":"grazia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0b062445f8bd459eba3f64480d606a34c95f6f1f1f2ceb823e0d947363f72e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0b062445f8bd459eba3f64480d606a34c95f6f1f1f2ceb823e0d947363f72e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"grazia"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/author\/grazia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crossingitaly.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}