CHRISTMAS IN ROME

By Andrea Scheurer

Translated by Jack Davidson Walmsley

Lights, ornaments, presents, sweets and a pinch of magic: this is the fairy-tale atmosphere of Christmas in Rome, a city unlike any other! Made even more irresistible by its majestic festively decorated spruces and sparkling illuminations!
To ensure that your Christmas celebrations are unforgettable, visit the safety section on our website for updats on rules and regulations to follow and anti COVID-19 measures.

CHRISTMAS TREES, LIGHT DISPLAYS AND NATIVITY SCENES

Spelacchio in Piazza Venezia
Until the 10th of January 2021
A natural spruce tree of the Abies Nordmanniana type, approximately 23 metres tall and with a crown diameter at its base of 12 metres, illuminated by 100 thousand LED lights and decorated with 800 spheres in four colours: red, silver, intense gold and light gold

Christmas illuminations in Via dei Condotti
Until the 6th of January 2021
Twenty-two luminous arches, reproducing the logo of maison Bulgari, donor of the installation which lights up the shopping district in the heart of the baroque bend.
The owners of the 42 boutiques withinin the district will have to go without this years traditional concert and the usual performance by the “Carabinieri” band due to the pandemic.

Christmas illuminations in Piazza Navona
Until the 6th of January 2021
Thanks to state-of-the-art LED technology, the Fountain of the “Quattro Fiumi”, the Fountain of the “Moro” and the Fountain of “Nettuno” are lit with a blue colour to enhance the shapes of these artworks and the motion of the water.
In addition to the static projections, don’t miss the light show: the lights in the square are gradually turned off to give way, with a sound effect, to an unprecedented show full of colour, music and movement on the Fountain of the “Quattro Fiumi”.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s work of art has been digitally mapped and given a luminous dress with a 5-minute 3D video played every 20 minutes from 5pm to 9pm.

The usual Christmas illuminations were installed in Via del Corso and Via Vittorio Veneto by Acea. This year, a 1,500-metre-long ‘starry sky’ has been fitted with verses, phrases and famous quotes.
From the 18th of December a nativity scene will be set up in Piazza del Campidoglio, an eighteenth-century Neapolitan nativity scene in Piazza di Spagna and a Pinellian nativity scene in Piazza del Popolo.

In Piazza Vittorio, in the recently redeveloped Nicola Calipari Gardens, a robotic nativity scene will be set up, a project conceived and directed by Guillermo Mariotto in association with Caput New Mundi Enterprise, with the support of Roma Capitale. A contest of ideas aimed at children will also be organised in this framework.
From the 19th of December, Piazza del Popolo will be the centre of an artistic lighting project called “Custodes” in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce. Wonderful and evocative images of guardian angels and “protectors” of the city will be projected onto the Porta del Popolo, which for centuries was the main entrance to the city.
A lighted tree will be installed in Piazza Risorgimento by Confesercenti and star-shaped light installations will be set up in various areas of the city.

n each City Hall, this year, a 6-metre high illuminated tree will be positioned by Acea.
A festive open bus will be circulating, bringing music to the streets of the city, thanks to the collaboration of the Fondazione Musica per Roma.

Christmas at Cinecittà World – Stardust
Experience the excitement of Christmas with the Stardust Walk, a path of luminaries and signature lighting, created by Meta Lux, with enchanted trees, reindeer, penguins and dolphins to admire every day from 4pm to 8 pm;
The suggestive Cinecittà Street awaits you with its starry sky between the skyscrapers of New York and the walk through the great outdoors with the artistic installations of the luminaries.

Christmas in Piazza S. Pietro
From the 11th of December 2020 to the 10th of January 2021
The traditional inauguration and ignition will take place on Friday the 11th of December at 4.30 pm.
Italy and Slovenia are the donors of this year’s display. From Castelli, in the province of Teramo, a very important town for ceramics since the 16th century, will come the Nativity scene, with statues larger than life-size, an object of contemporary art that has its roots in the traditional ceramic work of Castelli, however, only a few pieces from the fragile collection of 54 statues will be displayed in Piazza S. Pietro.
They will be placed on the side of a luminous platform extending over an area of approximately 125 square metres, which surrounds part of the obelisk on a slight slope. The sculptures represent the Three Wise Men; in the centre, on the highest point of the platform, is the Nativity group with the Angel, placed above the Holy Family to symbolise its protection of the Saviour, Mary and Joseph.

In Piazza S. Pietro there is also the majestic spruce tree (or peccus), 28 metres high with a diameter of 70 centimetres, which comes from south-east Slovenia, exactly from the municipality of Kočevje, on the Rinža river. The Kočevsko region is one of the areas in Slovenia where nature is at its most lush and intact – forests cover 90% of its territory. The spruce chosen for St Peter’s Square grew near Kočevska Reka, 6 kilometres from the impressive Krokar virgin forest.
Together with Snežnik-Ždrocle (in the Notranjska region), it is the second Slovenian forest included among the 63 sites of ancient primeval beech forests on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The spruce, has been a symbol of fertility since ancient times.

This section is constantly being updated. Some events may be suspended or cancelled due to the implementation of Covid-19 containment measures