Christmas of a quaintness time
Go BackPerhaps more than other places, religious and food preparation traditions are still followed in Calabria. The celebration of Christmas and Christian holidays like Carnival, Easter and patron saints days are still reason to march in procession behind the clergy, carry crosses and statues of the saints while reciting or singing Gregorian chants. Many of today’s social customs in Calabria reflect the rules that its citizens endured from past occupiers.
So Christmas celebration starts since the beginning of December, in particular after the 8th December that officially signs the Christmas period.
In the main street and all over the paths of small villages – where people still feel the traditions – you can hear the sweet melody of the zampogna (bagpipe) that accompanies the traditional Christmas songs, the novena, announcing the Savoir’s birth and wishing everyone a lot of love and peace.
The meaning of Christmas in Calabria found its origins in the remote Christian tradition and celebrates the birth of the Savoir. For this reason the symbol of Calabrian Christmas is the Presepe, the Nativity scene, made with real raw materials and the representation in some places of the Live Presepe.
It is a family festivity and the celebrations already start with the Dinner on Christmas Eve when 13 main courses are served, one for each month and the other as a good wish for the coming year.
Magic and charm are all to be discovered with the villagers, happy to tell you their stories of childhood and true celebration traditions, among the white peaks of our mountains, or in the fishing villages on the Calabrian Coasts.
Would you let your 5 senses disclaim this magic Christmas?
Place: Calabria
Impression & Feelings: Tradition