Buon Natale e Capodanno dall'Italia!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all from semi-snowy Chieri, Italy!! It's been an unusual Christmas (for everyone), so we made the best of it here. Missing friends and family from back home, but lots of reasons to celebrate, including Google Meet and Netflix.

Well, I was yet again a little too optimistic in my last post—our "yellow" status barely outlasted the time it took you to read about the reopening of things here. Instead, the government sensibly put us back into red/orange mode for the next 10 days—a hard red lockdown for the days immediately before and after Christmas (Natale) and New Years Day (Capodanno), and orange for a couple of days sprinkled in to allow some commerce to happen. So we're back to jigsaw puzzles, baking, and taking much-cherished walks...Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to touch base with us these past few days!

The good news is (a) the days are getting longer again (yay!), (b) the lockdown is helping bring the case/death rates down (science!), and the vaccine is being administered in Italy as of Monday. So forgive me, but yes I am optimistic that the world is going to look a lot better in January! :)

But it's Christmas time right now, so let's talk about Christianity here in Italy! A lot of you have asked me a variant on the question "how religious is Italy these days?" You probably know that Christianity (and in particular, Catholicism) is by far the dominant religion amongst Italians—surveys range between 70 and 85% of Italians who self-identify as "Catholic." But that number is slowly dwindling (replaced more by 'agnostic' or 'atheist' than any other particular faith), as is the number who regularly attend services.

But Catholicism still has a very strong hold on day-to-day life here—of course Rome serves as the home of the papacy, and as my Uncle Mid likes to point out, although Pope Francis may be from Argentina, his parents were both from Italy!!

Living here, one sees daily reminders of Catholicism's central place in Italian culture— you see it in the names of:

• Towns and villages: Just outside Chieri, I can bike in less than 15 minutes to the towns of Madonna della Scala, Madonna della Spina, or Madonna della Rovere.

• Holidays: Besides Natale, you can bet there will be a good meal, and maybe a day, off to celebrate Ognissanti (All Saints Day, Nov 1), Immacolata Concezione (Immaculate Conception, Dec 8), Santo Stefano Day (Dec 26, Boxing Day for the Brits), Epifania (Epiphany, Jan 6), and Assunzione della Vergine (Assumption of the Virgin, aka Ferragosto, Aug 15).

• People: Seems like everyone you meet is named after a Saint—Matteo, Marco, Luca, Gianni, etc. (lots of New Testament energy here!)

St. Matthew: Orsanmichele, Florence

I could also talk about all of the beautiful churches here, but I've been fascinated by a particular expression of religious devotion that I have stumbled upon around Chieri—the street corner and the roadside "niche."

You've no doubt seen the traditional niches that are a familiar feature for many churches—they are quite common in Italy and all of Europe. The typical niche is a half-circle recess built into an interior or exterior wall, containing a statue of Mary or one of the saints. Some churches, like the Orsanmichele in Florence, are famously adorned with them (14 on the outside; see right).

Chier intersection

But I've discovered dozens of less-traditional niches just walking and biking around the area. I've noticed two kinds: There are the street corner niches—these are often located at an intersection or in the corner of a piazza—my understanding is that these are fairly common in older towns, and were strategically placed for the saint (or its statue) to keep an eye on the proceedings below and protect the local inhabitants. Sometimes you'll see one at the entrance to a larger house—no doubt the wealthier citizens had enough cash, and enough property, worth protecting, to invest in their own stone sentinel.

(l-r) Keeping an eye on things; on the corner in Chieri; the entrance to an estate in Genoa

We have found the other kind of less-traditional niche in the most unexpected setting—along the side of the road—while just walking or biking around the very quiet Piemonte countryside with Barbara and/or my biking buddy Peter.

I wish I could tell you with certainty the origin or significance of these beautiful shrines—my research turns up references to their prevalence in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, etc. but I can't tell if they are located throughout Italy or just our corner of Piemonte.

From what I can tell, some roadside shrines are believed to mark the spot where someone was killed (or nearly killed), but these are alongside very quiet roads. Our guess is they are meant to watch over the area inhabitants, and/or are a simple expression of devotion to a particular saint.

In many cases they are lovingly maintained with flowers, or at least there is a plastic bouquet or some trimmed vines, to add color to the tribute.

In some cases the statue is behind a metal grate or glass/plastic barrier; in other cases there is a fresco painting rather than a statue (often these were faded badly from who-knows-how-long sun exposure).

I hope you enjoyed this quick tour through a lesser-seen aspect of religious devotion in Italy. Wishing everyone a safe and healthy New Year and new beginnings in 2021!!