The Legend of La Befana
Sweep Away the Old Year, Italian Style
According to Italian tradition, La Befana flies through the night sky on January 5 to sweep away all the troubles of the old year, and clear the way for a fresh start, the Epiphany on January 6. I’ll go along for that ride!
Here’s an excerpt from my book of essays, Letters from Italy, about my experience of celebrating La Befana in Rome, years ago…
Postcard from Rome: The Legend of La Befana*
“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.
Many years later, I was in Rome’s Piazza Navona, at the Epiphany Fair. It was two weeks after Christmas, but the holiday celebrations were still in full swing. Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers was surrounded by stands covered in twinkling white lights, selling sweets, ornaments, and roasted pork sandwiches.
