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Christmas
in Piazza Navona
by Sergio Caggia - © Nerone The Insider's Guide to Rome
Somewhere in the house I keep a photo of myself as a child taken in Piazza Navona with Babbo Natale (Santa
Claus) and the Befana.
I wonder if the Befana is part of your tradition too. As the story goes, there was once an old lady who was very disagreeable and it was well known that she hated
children. Every day she swept her path and she used this work as an excuse not to help
anyone. On the 6th of January she heard a crowd passing but she didn't care, she kept sweeping her
path. The people passing in the crowd asked her too join them as they were going in search of the christ child but she replied that she was too busy and continued
sweeping. That night an angel appeared and told her that it was her duty to go to find the christ child and to take him
gifts. The next morning she woke up early and prepared the gifts she wanted to take and she set off on her
broom. Unfortunately, she arrived too late, the christ child had gone. The same angel appeared and told the befana that she was doomed to search for the holy child which is
why, on the 6th of January, she visits the houses of all the children.
The name Befana may derive from the word epifania that, in Greek, means appearance referring to the appearance of the comet that led the Magi to
Bethlehm. |
