This post is also available in: 
Italiano (Italian)
We at Club Cavallo Italia are very careful to traditions and, in these, we can not forget one of the most important events of each year: Christmas.
We have done a rather thorough research on this recurrence and news, facts and legends have emerged that cannot be told in a single article.
So we thought of an approach to Christmas in several articles, one every week, where, of course, we will also remember our products which, being hand-made, require time for their realization and therefore must be booked now to avoid the risk of arrive at your home, always with maximum security and without sending costs, before Christmas.
Christmas, as we all know, is a Christian holiday that celebrates the nativity of Jesus and falls on December 25th of each year for most of the Western Christian and Greek Orthodox churches.
For the Eastern Orthodox Churches the anniversary is instead January 6th while the Slav Orthodox Churches, which follow the Julian calendar, celebrate it on January 7th.
According to the liturgical calendar, Christmas is a more important occasion than Ascension and Pentecost but less important than Easter, which is the most important Christian holiday.
However, Christmas is the most popularly felt feast among Christians even though it has also taken on a secular significance among Western populations linked to the now traditional exchange of gifts and folkloristic figures such as Santa Claus.
Here, with regards to gifts, we recommend a break to visit our online shop where the best of Made in Italy is available to you, handmade by Italian hands and dedicated to horses and their elegance, to be booked now to prevent it from arriving late, after Christmas.
You can download our catalog in pdf here. Thanks.
Let’s continue. The tradition of the nativity scene and the Christmas tree are closely linked to Christmas, all of medieval origins even though the Christmas tree is more linked to the traditions of Northern Europe.
A curiosity: the Italian term “Natale” derives from the Christian Latin Natāle for ellipses of diem natālem Christi (“birth day of Christ”), in turn from the Latin natālis, derived from nātus (“born”) from the verb nāsci (” to be born”).
The origins
The first references to Christmas, although not certain, date back to the fourth century but the first certain mention of the Nativity of Christ with the date of December 25 dates back to 335 AD in the Chronographus of the Roman man of letters Furio Dionisio Filocalo but the historical origins of the festival are not known and have been explained by various hypotheses.
Probably his date was set for December 25 to replace the feast of the Natalis Solis Invicti with the celebration of the birth of Christ, indicated in the Book of Malachi as the new “Sun of Justice”.
There are also different hypotheses, both in relation to Jewish influences and to traditions within Christianity, even if they can coexist
The Christian tradition is intertwined with the popular and peasant tradition, since in the same period a series of recurrences and rituals linked to the rural world were celebrated: in fact in ancient Rome from the 17th to the 24th the Saturnalia were celebrated in honor of Saturn, god of agriculture, during which exchanges of gifts and sumptuous banquets took place.
We arrived at the end of the first article dedicated to Christmas and, if you liked it, you send the link to the page to those who know how to appreciate it and we will be really pleased. Thank you.
We give you an appointment on the second article and if you want to write to us: customercare@clubcavalloitalia.it We always reply.
Now our tip: subscribe to our newsletter here. We will respect your privacy, you will receive our newsletter about the horse and its elegance, our advice on the most elegant places in Italy and you will have immediately a 10% welcome discount for your first purchase in our online shop. Thank you.
Wait a moment, please. If you are thinking about where to spend your Christmas holidays read our tips here. Thanks again.