Considered the procuress of eyes, the blind, oculists and electricians, the liturgical festival of St Lucy is celebrated on 13th December, some days before summer solstice.

St Lucy’s body, which is currently kept in the Church of San Geremia in Venice, in the past was stolen by the Byzantines in Siracusa and later was purloined by Venetians who conquered Constantinople.

St Lucy celebrations, patron saint of Siracusa, a town located in Sicily, nowadays is a recurring event that crowds many Italian squares with stalls nd stands selling sweets and typical local dishes.

In Siracusa, during a slow procession,

Today we want to suggest you some of the most important Christmas appointments and events in Tuscany:

Let’s begin with the city of Florence:

As every year, Florence is going to host the very expected “Florence Noel”: an yearly fair organized by the Country Florence Association at Stazione Leopolda. An exhibition market dedicated to Christmas with a wide range of items among which you can choose your perfect Christmas gifts. A gift for the kids: the “Santa Claus House”, a place for children where they can meet the elves and leave them their letters. Admission fee: € 7

Santa Croce Christmas Market in Florence: from 28th November to 15th December the traditional German Christmas market comes back and brings in town delicious gastronomic specialties such as sausages, sauerkraut, pork knuckles, pretzels, strudels and other products. You can visit the market everyday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In the green Mugello area:

“Magie dell’Avvento” Christmas market: as every year, this important market is held in the small village of Palazzuolo sul Senio, located in the heart of upper Mugello. Christmas market will be open to visitors from 10.00 a.m. in the historic center, while from 11.30 a.m. the gourmet stand will wait for you in Piazza IV Novembre. Dates: from 1st to 8th December and from 15th to 22nd December.

On the Versilia coast, (Tuscany):

Christmas markets in Viareggio “Villaggio di Babbo Natale”: from 8th to 26th December, in Mazzini Square, in collaboration with the municipality of Viareggio the Santa Claus Village is set up. 30 wooden houses selling local products and Christmas items from throughout Italy.

Christmas Markets in Siena: from December, 6th, Matteotti Square will host a Christmas Market from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. From December, 13th, Pian dei Mantelli will host the traditional Fair of St. Lucia and on 15th and 16th December, Mercato del Campo – a street market dedicated to the traditional, excellent Siena’s products – will take place in Piazza del Campo in Piazza del Campo

So many events wait for you to have fun, stay with others and enjoy at best this 2013 Christmas. You will be spoilt for choice!

On Saint Ambrose festival, religious and popular event, Milan citizens go to the St. Ambrose Basilica to attend the mass for the Holy Patron Saint.

On such an occasion, every year the “Oh Bej, Oh Bej” fair is held in Milan streets - from 6th to 8th December – in the area near Sforza Castle.

The name of the fair was born in 1510 from the cries of children for the gifts that Pope Pius IV sent them.

The gifts, full of sweets and games, served to rekindle the enthusiasm of the religious faithful in Milan.

At the fair, visitors will find hundreds stalls where scavengers, artists, craftsmen and florists change the city with their beautiful toys, books, prints, sweets, tastes and sensations.

The 6th edition of BTO – Buy Tourism Online will be held from 3rd to 4th December at Fortezza da Basso in Florence.

Two days dedicatet to the world of travel 2.0. with speakers, debates and seminars.

With the participation of 8 regions and over 40 companies, the event will deal with current issues such as sharing economy, web reputation, start-up tourist, future of airlines and links among music, tourism, food and wine.

At the event, visitors will have the chance to meet very  important figures and brands of tourism sector, such as John Alborante (Sales & Marketing Manager at Ryanair), Philip Wolf (PhoCusWright founder), Emirates Airlines, Google and many others.

Everything in the event will be dedicated to operators of tourism industry, students and researchers, workers and future workers in the field of tourism marketing, responsible for the governance of tourism and collective stakeholders.

The Fortezza will be open from 9 am until 5 pm on 3rd December and from 9 am to 8 pm on 4th December.

For more information about Florence or if you wish to book a hotel in Florence, check out our online travel guide About Florence.

The Festival dei Popoli Association is engaged from over 50 years in the field of human sciences and aims to promote the study of social documentation.

Born in 1959, the main activity of the Association is to organize the most important international documentary film festival in Italy.

Together with the organization of the Festival, the association carries on the activity of preservation and digitalization of its archives over the organization of training activities and workshops for film-makers and