The Christmas season is the perfect time to rediscover traditions, a way to learn about the history and culture of the area, but also, when appropriate, to update those traditions, adapting them to modern times and incorporating them into current lifestyle. However, the Christmas period itself invites us to set aside, at least for a while, the often overly fast-paced, stressful rhythms of everyday life: this is why it can be particularly interesting to rediscover the rituals of the past, many of which originate from pagan customs that were incorporated into Christian tradition.

In Friuli Venezia Giulia, there are traditions for every taste related to the Christmas period, starting with the Friulian custom of the Christmas log (“zoc di Nàdal” or “Nadalin” in the local dialect), perhaps derived from the ancient pagan worship of the Sun God. It is a log, made of beech, oak, or mulberry, which on Christmas Eve is lit by the youngest member of the family, gathered around the “fogolâr,” the fireplace. Tradition holds that the Nadalin should be kept burning until Epiphany: if it continues to burn, it is a sign of good luck for the new year.

In Trieste, on the other hand, a local custom—rather recent, but now formalized—is the underwater mass, which began in 1976 and will take place this year on December 26th at 11 a.m. at the Royal Staircase in Piazza Unità d’Italia, making it a unique tradition in the country. Alongside this, there are the traditions of the religious communities of the more prominent minority groups in the city, such as the Serbian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox communities.