“There is no Santa Claus in Italy,” my Nana told me when I was a kid. I had nightmares of how awful Christmas must be over there. Nana said she had to wait until January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, to get gifts. The presents came from an old crone with a hairy mole on her chin who rode around on a broom. She was called La Befana.
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| The Piazza Navona is a prime location to fully experience the festivities that take place during Rome’s Epiphany Fair. |
Many years later, I’m at the Piazza Navona in Rome, at the Epiphany Fair. It’s two weeks after Christmas, but the celebration is still in full swing. The Fountain of the Four Rivers is surrounded by stands with twinkling white lights selling sweets, ornaments and roasted pork sandwiches.
Nowadays, there is Santa Claus in Italy. They call him Babbo Natale. He’s skinnier than our version, and figures of him hang off the booths, side by side with the crone from my nightmares: La Befana. Tonight, January 5, I tell my husband, is La Befana’s special night. He looks between Babbo Natale and La Befana and says, “If I saw that one coming down my chimney, I’d run the other way!”
La Befana, like my Nana, was famous for spending her days in the kitchen, cooking and sweeping. On the first Christmas, the Magi stopped by her house, asking directions to Bethlehem. She made them dinner and they told her, “We’re going to see the Christ child, want to come along?” “Impossible,” she replied. “There are all these dishes to wash and the kitchen to sweep!” So the kings went on their way. Then, as the old woman was sweeping, it hit her: Did those guys say they were going to see Jesus?
She ran out of her cottage with her broom to follow them … but no kings in sight. She kept running, until her broom lifted her into the air. Ever since, La Befana has flown through the night sky on the eve of the Epiphany, delivering goodies to children, hoping one of them is the Christ child.
Continued: Roman Holiday: The Tale of La Befana
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