Italy, as all Western countries, follows the internationally accepted civil Gregorian calendar which is also known as “Western” or “Christian” calendar and which begins on January 1st. According to the ancient Romans, the New Year used to start on March 25th; in the old Republic of Venice, the first day used to fall on March 1st, while in Italy under the Byzantine Empire, the 1st of September was considered to be the first day of the calendar. In this chaos, it was established that January 1st would become New Year’s Day as a result of a papal edict: the Gregorian calendar was first introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th century.

Italians think it’s important to spend Christmas with family but they usually choose to spend the night of December 31st, New Year’s Eve, with friends. New Year’s Eve is also called San Silvestro because it’s named after the Saint (Saint Sylvester) celebrated on that day according to the Catholic tradition. There are many traditions and customs involved in the celebration of the New Year and Italians like to follow such ‘rites,’ both for a love of tradition and for a fear of superstition. Some rites, such as kissing at midnight, watching fireworks or wearing red clothes, are shared with other Western countries, but some customs are truly unique to Italy and Liguria.



In Liguria, on New Year’s Day, after waking up, it’s a tradition to leave the house with money in your pocket because it is considered a good omen for the year ahead. In Liguria it’s also customary to hang a twig of olive tree on the door; such twig is then slowly burned each day in December until New Year’s Day as a symbol of the old year just ended.

Although, back in the days, New Year’s Eve dinner used to be pretty frugal, usually made up of boiled cabbage seasoned with oil and some homemade bread, nowadays the keyword is always abundance. Italian people customarily prepare a big cenone (New Year’s feast) and invite many friends over to celebrate at home or sometimes choose to eat out at a restaurant which offers entertainment and the traditional countdown to midnight.



There are three staple foods which are traditionally eaten in Italy on the night of December 31st: pomegranate seeds, steamed lentils and cotechino, a gelatinous pork sausage in a natural casing.
Eating pomegranate is a symbol of fidelity and fecundity and this seasonal fruit is traditionally eaten by couples on the last night of the year as a symbol of devotion to each other and prosperity. The pomegranate is a red fruit and red is indeed the color of New Year’s Eve as it’s also the color of love and luck.
Eating lentils is perhaps the most widespread tradition throughout Italy; they are eaten because their shape is very similar to that of money and therefore they represent a good wish for a new year full of abundance and economic rewards. Lentils are often accompanied by a pork sausage called cotechino, which is also a symbol of wealth and prosperity.



New Year’s Eve dinner is usually eaten just before the midnight and the menu usually includes champagne risotto or ravioli as a first course, followed by the traditional cotechino sausage with lentils as main, but the true undisputed kings of this dinner are fruits and desserts. It’s a New Year’s tradition to eat twelve grapes at midnight; one for each chime of midnight and twelve as the months in a calendar year.
Every Italian table will also showcase an assortment of nuts and dried fruit and at least one Panettone, the Italian Christmas cake.
Panettone is a Christmas cake which comes in a variety of flavors and shapes. The classic panettone is a soft cake with candied fruit and raisins but, in more recent years, new chocolate covered versions with custard cream and liquor fillings have become available.



Another Italian custom, which can also be dangerous and it is slowly disappearing (as it might be considered illegal dumping), is to throw out of the window old and broken things. Throwing old stuff out of the window would represent leaving the past behind to look at a bright new future.