Posted by Sorrento Lingue, Italian language school in Sorrento.

Web site: www.sorrentolingue.com

Sorrento, the town where our Institute is located, gives a lot of importance to religious holidays year round. As the holidays begin you feel the spirit in the air as you walk through the streets because the holiday of Christmas is celebrated in a very intense and evocative way in a fascinating synthesis between the sacred and the profane.

During the Christmas period Sorrento completely changes appearance: streets and shops are decorated with lights and intricate decorations that create an almost magical atmosphere. Along with wreaths, garlands and trees there are also the colorful traditional nativity scenes, many of which are made even with the shepherds of the old crib Neapolitan school.

We also want to mention the observances found in many churches and villages of the peninsula: the nativity scenes that attract the faithful and visitors from all over Italy. The sacredness of Christmas it is strongly felt throughout the peninsula and the calendar of rituals and celebrations of the month of December are full of events that follow the ancient traditions, like the march of pipers and the singing of the rosary together with pastoral melodies that is done every year at Castellammare di Stabia at Immaculate Conception on December 8, or the procession of children and the charming bonfire achieved on December 12 in Sorrento to celebrate Saint Lucia.

The mystical and evocative religious climate does not crowd out the numerous non-religious events held in the month of December. Between Sorrento and other towns of the coast there is a continuous series of concerts, festivals, theater performances, exhibitions in which the sacred and secular intertwine in a very charming folklore. The calendar of events is updated from year to year, but between December 8 and January 6 each evening the peninsula offers a special event. Therefore, you can choose between the concert of Bagpipers and the Christmas band; between the festival of “struffoli”
and “zeppole”; between the puppet theater and traditional Neapolitan one.

Spending Christmas in Sorrento is also an excellent opportunity to visit one of the richest areas of natural beauty, historical and architecture resources in Campania while taking advantage of the usually mild climate. The location of Sorrento offers many excursions to the evocative and enchanted Amalfi Coast; to Salerno, where the lights exalt in a suggestive way the views of this friendly city; to the world’s most famous archaeological excavations such as Pompeii and Herculaneum or to the historic center of Naples, the ancient capital of Southern Italy and World Heritage by UNESCO.

In short, despite being considered a tourist resort mainly in summer for its coastline and sea, Sorrento, with its peninsula, may actually become a pleasant surprise even in winter, certainly able to offer a truly unforgettable Christmas.

Greetings to all!

Posted by Sorrento Lingue, Italian language school in Sorrento.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 12:09 pm and is filed under italian language, italian culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.