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| Sorrento's Piazza Tasso at Christmas (image courtesy of www.images-italy.it) |
Banks and offices are closed today and there are special masses taking place in the churches as Sorrento celebrates the official beginning of Christmas.
Il giorno dell’immacolata concezione (the day of the immaculate conception) has been celebrated for centuries in Italy on 8 December.
It is an official festa (feast day) when the immaculate conception of Jesus is celebrated in the Christian calendar. It also marks the start of the Christmas season when the lights and trimmings go up, if they haven’t started to go up already.
Although the banks and public offices are closed, all the shops open as usual with many people not at work taking the opportunity to do some Christmas shopping.
As in many other countries across the world, Christmas shopping actually starts much earlier than 8 December in Italy, with Christmas trees, lights and decorations going up during November.
Corso Italia, the main street that runs through Sorrento, has some of the top name shops and will be thronged with activity from now until Christmas Eve.
Buona Festa!
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