Portugal celebrates December 2014 with awesome events

Have you heard? Portugal celebrates December 2014 with awesome events! How about we check them out together in the next lines.

December is an eventful month all around the world. Christmas is celebrated by millions of people in the Christian space and outside it. Then, there is the New Year’s Eve, right at the end of the month, when the Occident says goodbye to a year and welcomes a new one right away.

Portugal celebrates these events and many more. The first of December is a day with a great significance for every Portuguese, as they reminisce the Restoration (of Independence) Day. It marks the reinstatement of Portuguese sovereignty after a Spanish rule of 60 years. The House of Braganca was also founded then. Today, Restoration Day is an office holiday.

The 6th of December marks St Nicholas’s Day, the Christian Saint acknowledged for his generosity, who was said to offer gifts to children and to the poor during his life.

The 8th of December is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated in Portugal (as a preponderantly Christian country). The Portuguese celebrated the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary would give birth to the Son of God through Immaculate Conception.

After a short wait, the whole world celebrated Christmas with a decorated Christmas Tree, tasty food, sweets and the scene of the Nativity. Let’s take the opportunity and review some Portuguese traditions. Consoada is the Portuguese name of the Christmas dinner. The Portuguese customarily eat codfish and fruit, as well as pastry and meat. Gift-giving is popular in Portugal and, apart from the Tree, the Scene of the Nativity is also usually present in each house, to the delight of the children. The “Christmas log” is called “cepo de Natal” in Portuguese and it burns throughout Christmas Day, warming and lighting the hearts of the family gathered for Christmas.

Since the holiday season is almost here, it might be time to plan your trip to Lisbon already!