Since Italy has one of the largest Catholic populations in the world, it is no surprise that Christmas is widely celebrated here. The entire month of December seemed to be dedicated to religious holidays (which I didn’t mind, since Christmas if my favorite holiday too). There are more religious holidays celebrated here than in the United States. For example, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated on December 8th. The day after Christmas (St. Stephen’s Day) is also a national holiday, and Christmas celebrations typically end on Epiphany, which is January 6th of the following year.
I learned that Italians usually decorate their Christmas trees on December 8th, which is considered the start of the Christmas holiday. The piazza here had a giant tree, and the city decorated buildings with white lights. I also learned that December 8th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 31st, January 1st and January 6th are all national holidays, which meant that stores were either closed or had reduced hours. Christmas is also very focused on family, so all my Italian friends went home to spend time with their loved ones. Typically, Italians refrain from eating meat on Christmas Eve and instead eat fish. Christmas Day is then filled with lots of meat, pasta and bread!
