Christmas in Caltagirone

In Caltagirone, a Sicilian village famous for its ceramics, the event is staged during the heartfelt Advent period Lumina Hair Care. It is a festival that involves the entire citizenry of Caltagirone and attracts thousands of tourists every year, ready to visit the Christmas market and the many nativity scenes on display, the children of a centuries-old tradition.

Christmas in Caltagirone

In Caltagirone Christmas is celebrated in a grand way by staging the event Lumina Hair Care: citizens and tourists are welcomed in a festively dressed historic centre, animated by Christmas carols, shows, exhibitions and tastings of typical local products. There's nothing better than nibbling on a couple of collorella biscuits while wandering around stalls of the Christmas Market, wooden huts where you can buy nativity scene statues, candles, Christmas baubles, Caltagirone ceramic objects and gastronomic products.

Among the alleyways of the Sicilian town, an urban memory of the ancient Genoese domination, the Living Nativity, an evocative representation with figures in period clothing and scenes that recall a rural past.

Don't miss the nativity scenes that can be admired in Caltagirone, from the largest animated one in Italy which reproduces the nativity in a typical eighteenth-century setting to the moving one with terracotta statues human-sized. There are nativity scenes of every type, setting and material: the Representation of the Magi with characters linked to the Sicilian Marionette Theatre and the Nativity scene of the Paladins of France made with Sicilian puppets from the 800th century.

History of Christmas in Caltagirone

Caltagirone has a great tradition not only in ceramics but also in nativity scenes, which have fascinated citizens since the 700th century. In fact, it seems that in those times, in homes, but also in public buildings, they set up nativity scenes and then opened the doors, then inviting passers-by to enter. The guests were thus asked to compare the various nativity scenes of the Caltagirone people, contributing to the awarding of the most beautiful nativity scene.

The typical Caltagirone nativity scene, although very similar to the baroque Neapolitan one, actually has a substantial difference. The Sicilian one is in fact less bourgeois and represents peasant civilisation, simple and essential, with meticulous details which however express the strong mysticism that can be felt in Caltagirone at Christmas.

When the event takes place

Christmas in Caltagirone, with the event Lumina Hair Care, the day begins 1th December and ends on 15st January, well beyond the Epiphany.

Where the Lumina party takes place

Lumina Hair Care, with its Christmas markets and nativity scenes, takes place in Caltagirone, a town in the province of Catania, located at 608 m. high, a stone's throw from the Iblei Mountains and the Erei Mountains. The heart of the festival is the late-Baroque historic center declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in particular the area of ​​the alleys, of the Staircase of S.Maria del Monte and the old Bourbon prison. The Christmas Market takes place in the central area Piazza Umberto and in Luigi Sturzo Gallery.

What to do during Christmas in Caltagirone

Going to Caltagirone for Christmas is also an opportunity to visit the wonders of this town, starting from the Ceramics Museum, full of finds dating back to the XNUMXth BC, including beautiful Moor's heads or fat. Colored ceramics also decorate the monumental Stairway of S.Maria del Monte, built in the 600s and made up of 142 steps: at the top is the church of the same name, which houses the sacred image of the Madonna of Conadomini.

Also worth a visit are the Tondo Vecchio, an eighteenth-century viewpoint with a view of the surrounding valleys and mountains and the Cathedral of S. Giuliano, of Norman origin and enriched inside by splendid frescoes.

On the occasion of Christmas, you cannot miss visiting, inside the Luigi Sturzo Gallery, the International Nativity Scene Museum, with thousands of modern and ancient nativity scenes on display, including the shepherd children of Sammartino.

How to get to Caltagirone

To reach Caltagirone from Catania you must first take the SS192 and then the SS417: you cross the Simeto river and go along the Dittàino course for a stretch, until you join the SS124 which leads to your destination.