Celebrate the New Year in Italy

Dine on pork and lentils and wear red underwear for a prosperous 2023

Why not spend the New Year in Rome,
Italy's beautiful capital city?

Italy is a great place to see in the New Year as there is always a festive atmosphere with fireworks displays, concerts, and parties in even the smallest towns and villages.

In Rome, if you treat yourself to a hotel near the Colosseum or the Villa Borghese you will find plenty of free activities to enjoy.

If you choose to stay in elegant Milan, head to Piazza Duomo to see in the New Year, as it is traditional to gather in front of the beautiful cathedral.

In Naples, you will be able to watch fireworks displays from the sea front. It is worth staying near Piazza del Plebiscito, the main square of the city, where they have live music and processions to enjoy.

If you go to Turin, head to Piazza San Carlo to experience the musical celebrations and see the fireworks let off from the banks of the River Po.

Residents and visitors traditionally gather in Piazza San Marco in Venice to see in the New Year. Fireworks are let off from Riva degli Schiavoni after midnight, which light up the lagoon in spectacular style.

Firework displays are a major part of New
Year celebrations all over Italy

New Year’s Eve in Italy is known as the Festa di San Silvestro in memory of Pope Sylvester I who died on 31 December 335 in Rome.

It is not a public holiday, but it is always a festive occasion with special dinner menus offered by the restaurants.

Popular dishes include cotechino (Italian sausage), zampone (stuffed pig’s trotter) and lenticchie (lentils).

Pork is said to represent the fullness or richness of life, while lentils are supposed to symbolise wealth or money. Many Italians believe the coming year will bring prosperity if these foods are eaten on New Year’s Eve.

It is also believed wearing red underwear will fend off negativity and help people find happiness and love in the coming year.

The President of the Republic delivers an end of year message from the Quirinale in Rome, which is shown on most Italian television channels during the evening. A live concert in the open air from a town square somewhere in Italy is shown afterwards.

In some parts of Italy, you may witness the custom of throwing old possessions out of the window at midnight believed to symbolise readiness to accept the New Year.

Cotechino e lenticchie - sausage and lentils -
is a popular dish on the New Year's Eve menu

Sylvester I was pope from 314 until his death in 335, an important time in the history of the Catholic Church.

Some of Rome’s great churches, the Basilica of St John Lateran, the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, and the old St Peter’s Basilica, were founded during his pontificate.

San Silvestro in Capite, the Basilica of Saint Sylvester, is in Piazza San Silvestro on the corner of Via del Gambero and Via delle Mercede, on the opposite side of the Tiber from St Peter’s. Dating from the eighth century, it was bestowed on English Catholics by Pope Leo XIII in 1890. It is now known as ‘The National Church in Rome of Great Britain’ and mass is regularly celebrated in English there.

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