The Twelfth Day of Christmas is REALLY in January!
Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas, when the three wise men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. The Feast of Epiphany -- celebrated on January 6th -- is a national holiday in Italy and brings with it many festivities. As the traditional Christmas holiday season lasts through Epiphany, living nativity scenes (presepi viventi) are often presented on Dec 24th thru 26th and repeated for Epiphany.
In Florence, the festivities include Calvacata dei Magi, a long grand procession in magnificent renaissance costumes. The procession starts at Palazzo Pitti, proceeds across the Ponte Vecchio then to Piazza della Signoria and ends in Piazza del Duomo at the living nativity. The celebration goes back centuries, to when the solemn parade was repeated every three to five years and members of the Medici family participated. Lords and ladies, knights, drummers, falconers with their birds of prey, sbandieratori flag throwing companies and more fill the procession. Today there are estimated between 500-700 costumed participates from all over Tuscany.
Another wonderful post with great photos, Julie, that illustrate the story of this pageant so well. These centuries-old traditions are yet another reason to love Italy.
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