CONTEST What is the longest holiday in your country?

Christmas

source

I think the longest holiday in Italy is Christmas. Schools are closed from December 22nd to January 6th. In this period there are many celebrations and decorations in all countries of the world, but I believe that the thing that most distinguishes my country are the nativity scenes that represent the birth of Jesus.

The nativity scene was created by Saint Francis of Assisi in the Middle Ages and today it has spread throughout the world, but the artistic nativity scenes made in Naples and the living nativity scenes in many cities are typical.

Not everyone knows that Christmas also has pagan and popular origins and traditions, which have mixed and overlapped over the centuries.

The italian word for "Christmas" is "Natale" and comes from "natalis dies" in latin that means "day of birth". But this word is previous Jesus birth. In fact the date of December 25 does not correspond to the actual date of Jesus' birth. It is thought that this date was chosen by the Church of Rome to replace the pagan festivals that were celebrated in that period.

The day of January 6th is the day of the epiphany, it represents the day in which the wise men went to Jesus guided by the comet star. However, in Italy this day is very important for a pagan tradition: the Befana. The Befana is an old witch who flies on a broomstick, on the night between 5th and 6th January the children have to hang their stockings in the fireplace, if they have been good the Befana will put some sweets, if they have been bad she will put some coal!

So I love Christmas and I like to think that its origins are ancient and mix many traditions together.

Thank you @boylikegirl.club for the contest!