Travel Tips

In the 18th century travellers quite often chose to come to Rome at christmas. Their stay usually lasted for several weeks and as its first part coincided with a few of the most luxurious spiritual ceremonies, its final one was dedicated to more lay matters as the year end festivities were followed by the then celebrated Roman Carnival.
Each year a particularly tall xmas tree is erected in Piazza S. Pietro : it is found near the obelisk and every year it is donated by a different nation. One more tree is erected in Piazza Venezia, which is in general considered the center of Rome ; trees appear in some of the other historic squares. The dark green of the trees vainly fights to bring a sense of cold winters and snowy landscapes. Marbles, travertine, palms, pines and a bright sunshine all invoke up a warmer Mediterranean ambiance. One then understands why these trees don’t belong to the Italian standard way of celebrating christmas.

The 1st crib ( It. Presepio ) is believed to have been prepared by St. Francis in the 1223 Christmas’ night in the monastery of Greccio, a miniscule town in Middle Italy. The re-enactment of episodes of Jesus’ life wasn’t new as scenes of Christ’s Passion were already part of the ceremonies of the Holy Week. Cribs became highly regarded and in the next centuries the producing of the statues and of the landscape elements became a sort of small art. Most of the churches of Rome have terribly elaborate cribs which are displayed in the weeks previous to xmas. To keep alive the tradition in less official ways in some churches boy scouts are invited to build and exhibit their own crib.

in the past, Italian children were given sweets and toys for the Epiphany in a re-enactment of the gifts brought to Jesus by the Magi : according to a common practice Befana, an old elf having the side of amagician, fills the socks that youngsters left close to the fireplace with toys and candy. Today in nearly all families gifts including those to youngsters are exchanged at xmas, but still a sock of candies is usually given at the Epiphany. Disobedient boys may find pieces of black coal instead, but they soon find out they’re made of sugar.
until the 1950s a marionette theatre with the conventional characters of the Italian comedy was a toy very treasured by most girls and boys. These days the bulk of the puppets basically sold portray Television and film icons.

At christmas the sun doesn’t get high enough to permit taking footage in the small streets of inner Rome, but some photographs in the archaeological areas get an additional attention from the long shadows projected by the monuments. You can spot the shade of Colonna Traiana projected on the buildings behind it. Maybe you can see it from the Appartments Rom.
Early in the morning it may be critical to dress in a hat and aheadscarf, but in the daytime, the sun may lift up the temperature to 15C/60F and it is warm enough for some unplanned vegetation to put down roots next to the travertine flowers of Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. Begin you Rome journey from an Appartment Rom which you can reserve at Oh-Holidays.

Comments are closed.