Winter Holidays in Italy

Italy celebrates the winter holidays with special events and festivals. Italy's winter holiday season generally starts with the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, a national holiday, and runs through Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas, on January 6. Then Carnevale, Italian carnival, is celebrated throughout Italy in late winter. Italian National holidays are December 8, 25, and 26 and January 1 and 6.

Find out more about each of these winter holiday traditions by clicking on the links.

© by Martha Bakerjian, licensed to About.com

In addition to nativity scenes, Christmas lights and trees are becoming popular, too. Vatican City erects a huge Christmas tree in Saint Peter's Square along with a life-size nativity scene. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are often spent with family, and big meals are prepared. There's often a midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The day after Christmas, Saint Stephen's Day, is also a national holiday. You can find out more about special decorations and events with the link above.

If you're looking for an Italian themed Christmas gift, check our Italy Gift Guide for recommended books about Italy, films set in Italy, and Italian music.

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UNESCO Sites in Northern Italy

The prehistoric petroglyphs of the Valcamonica was Italy's first UNESCO World Heritage site, designated in 1979. La Valle Delle Incisioni, the Valley of Engravings, is the largest collection of prehistoric rock carvings in Europe with more than 140,000 petroglyphs done over a period of 8,000 years. In addition to prehistoric sites, the beautiful Valcamonica is dotted with picturesque medieval villages and has many hiking trails.

Pictures | Valcamonica Map and Rock Art Sites

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UNESCO Sites in Central Italy

Siena is a classic medieval city in Tuscany. Much of the city's Gothic appearance from the 12th - 15th centuries, when Siena was one of the wealthiest cities in Europe, has been preserved. Its large fan-shaped piazza, Piazza del Campo, is the heart of Siena and the home of Siena's famous summer horse-race, the Palio of Siena. UNESCO says, "The whole city of Siena, built around the Piazza del Campo, was devised as a work of art that blends into the surrounding landscape".

Siena Pictures

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Views of Italy from Above

For picturesque views of Venice from above, head to Venice's bell tower, or campanile, in Piazza San Marco. An elevator takes visitors to the viewing platform inside the bell tower for spectacular views of Venice. Take a look at Venice spread out below the bell tower.

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Buying Medications in Italy

If you take prescription drugs, be sure to carry them with you in your carry-on luggage when flying to Italy. You should also carry a copy of your prescriptions or list of the medicines you take (the actual drug names, not the generic names) in case you need to buy them in Italy. If you need medication while traveling in Italy, head to the Farmacia, pharmacy, (not the drogheria).

While you're likely to find that your prescription drugs cost less than in the US, some over the counter medications may cost more. Recently a friend needed allergy medicine in Italy and paid about $1 per pill for the equivalent of sudafed. Another friend paid about $1 per pill for ibuprofen. So you might want to bring these with you, too, if you use them. Other medications, like aspirin, will be about the same cost as in the US.

By the way, you'll have to go to the farmacia for these medications, too. All medicines are sold only in pharmacies, although that may change soon. If you're feeling a little ill, the pharmacist may be able to give you advice, too. There are English-speaking pharmacists in most major Italian cities.

Find out more about the Italian pharmacy in the Pharmacy in Italy.

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Italy in North America

Wishing you were on vacation in Italy? Maybe you can't take that Italian vacation this year, but you can still enjoy the culture of Italy and maybe even practice a little Italian.

When I'm not in Italy, I enjoy going to my favorite Italian places in San Francisco. With more than 26 million people of Italian descent in the United States, it's easy to find Italian spots. While not every city has a Little Italy, many North American cities do have places with Italian heritage. You'll also find Italian festivals and Italian film festivals in the United States and Canada.

San Francisco's Italian neighborhood is North Beach. In North Beach, you'll find Italian cafes, restaurants, and shops. It's home to Saints. Peter and Paul Church and Saint Francis of Assisi Shrine. You'll still hear lots of Italian spoken in North Beach. There are good Italian places outside North Beach, too.
• Italy in San Francisco
• San Francisco Neighborhoods: North Beach New York City's Little Italy is a small area that still reflects its Italian heritage. Walk along its cobblestone streets, buy imported Italian groceries, and take a look at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral.
• Little Italy
• Mulberry Street Food

There's also a Little Italy in the Bronx. Joe Palisi says, "I grew up close to Little Italy in the Bronx, NY and would go there with my grandfather to purchase grapes for our wine press. We are talking circa 1940. Really Italian!"

The Hill is the St. Louis Italian neighborhood. The Hill's Italian heritage starts from the late nineteenth century and it still has Italian shops, bakeries, and restaurants.
• The Hill Overview and History
• Walking Tour of The Hill Cleveland's Little Italy originates from the late 19th century when Italian immigrants came to the area. It has art galleries, Italian restaurants, and the Holy Rosary Church, dating from 1892.
• Little Italy Profile
• A Walk Around Cleveland's Little Italy
• Little Italy Historic Photos
• Cleveland's Little Italy (compare prices) has more about this area Italian Village in Columbus is the area around St. John the Baptist Italian Catholic Church. Italian Village still retains some historic buildings and improvements to the area are still being made. Philadelphia, with its popular Italian Market, has one of the oldest Italian American communities in the United States and has many Italian restaurants.
• Top Philadelphia Italian Restaurants Boston's Italian neighborhood is called the North End. It has a strong Italian flair and several Italian restaurants. The North End is also Boston's oldest neighborhood.
• North End Neighborhood Profile Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood has many Italian restaurants, mostly family-owned places, in this area of narrow streets.
• Dining in Baltimore's Little Italy Federal Hill is the Italian neighborhood of Providence with many restaurants, bakeries, cafes, art galleries, cigar shops, and markets. DePasquale Square is the center of the neighborhood. A good time to visit is during June's Federal Hill Stroll.
• Italian Restaurants and Food in Provicence While New Orleans doesn't have a Little Italy they do have an unusual tradition of making St. Joseph altars, started by Sicilian immigrants who came to New Orleans in the nineteenth century. There's also a parade and celebrations for St. Joseph's Feast Day.
• St. Joseph Altars in New Orleans Montreal's Little Italy is part of the Petite Patrie neighborhood. Joe Palisi says, "the Catholic Church, Madonna della Difesa, built in 1919 is a huge, beautiful church in this part of Montreal. This is probably the only Catholic Church anywhere with a fresco of Pius IX and Mussolini side by side. The fresco commemorates the Lateran Accord and was completed prior to WWII before Musolini's downfall."
• Italian Spots in Petite Patrie Italian heritage is celebrated in many parts of the United States, especially in October around Columbus Day. Here are top US Italian Festivals from March through October. Annual film festivals are held in North America and other parts of the world. Here are Italian Film Festivals Outside Italy.

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Leonardo da Vinci in Italy

Painter, scientist, architect, and Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci left his imprint all over Italy in frescoes, buildings, drawings, and prototypes and blueprints for many of the world's technological milestones.  While quite a few of Leonardo's masterpieces reside in museums outside of Italy, there are ample examples of the master's works in his native land. Following, we have put together a list of places in Italy where you can follow the Leonardo trail.

Along with the Mona Lisa, which is the prized possession of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, "The Last Supper" is Leonardo's most famous painting. The Cenacolo Vinciano still resides in the refectory of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where Leonardo finished it in 1498.

Beyond The Last Supper, Milan holds several other Leonardo originals. Most obvious is the Leonardo da Vinci Science and Technology Museum, which has original Leonardo drawings as well as models based on the Renaissance man's innovations. The Codex Atlanticus, one of Leonardo's notebooks filled with extensive observations and drawings, is housed in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana. Another Codex - the Codex Trivulzianus, a study in architecture and religion – is held at the Biblioteca Trivulziana in the Castello Sforzesco.

Leonardo gets his name from the town of Vinci, the small village outside of Florence where he was born in 1452. Here you will find the Casa di Leonardo, the farmhouse where the master was born, and the Museo Leonardino, a science and technology museum dedicated to models based on the master's prolific drawings.

Besides the two codices kept in Milan, the only other Leonardo codex (notebook) in Italy is housed in Turin. The Biblioteca Reale di Torino houses the Codex on the Flight of Birds, Leonardo's analysis of flight mechanics, air resistance, and currents.

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