For the three weeks before Christmas -- from December 2 through 24 -- Campo Santo Stefano is transformed into a holiday village. Unlike most Italian holiday fairs, this one is filled entirely with craftsmen and food producers, whose displays are housed in 30 little wooden cabins. The square is lined with a backdrop picturing Venetian palaces, giving the whole scene a festival atmosphere.
Sponsored by the Artisan Association, the market features Christmas ornaments and decorations of Murano glass, traditional carnival masks, ceramics, jewelry, marbled paper and other Venetian craft specialties. The glass ornaments vary from delicate iridescent colored balls that look like bubbles frozen in mid-air, to fanciful blown shapes and little glass baubles in bright primary colors
Murano glass is also used in jewelry, alone or worked into designs with silver and gold. Carnival masks can be as simple as the red, gold and black eye masks or elaborate creations from the studios of San Polo. To see more masks, visit this sestiere near Rialto Bridge, a part of Venice less often visited by tourists.
One section of the Campo San Stefano market is devoted to Italian specialty foods – traditional cakes and sweets, fine olive oils, vintage balsamic vinegars and other locally made gourmet products fill the booths. Look for creamy white almond-studded nougat, fruit-filled panetone from nearby Verona, bags of specialty pastas, tiny biscotti, dried porcini mushrooms, candied chestnuts and delicacies made with precious white truffles from Alba.
The market's festive atmosphere is heightened by musicians, concerts and entertainment, with some programs designed especially for children. Along with a shopping venue, the Christmas Market is a gathering place where Venetians and travelers mingle. Located in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, the square adjoins the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, not far from Gallerie dell'Accademia, and is an easy walk from San Marco via the Accademia Bridge across the Grand Canal.
Find more gifts and holiday decorations at the Mercatino dell'Antiquariato, which fills Campo San Maurizo with antiques and art throughout mid-December. Not all the antiques are priceless heirlooms, and sharp-eyed shoppers can often find treasures here, though few bargains. At the least, it's a chance to see some fine examples of Murano glass from its glory days, or real Burano lace – hard to find on Burano, amid the Asian-made imitations sold by street vendors on the island.
Near Venice, look in Verona for Festa di Santa Lucia, a Christmas market in Piazza Bra, beside the Arena. The fair begins several days before Santa Lucia day, December 12, and has a more carnival atmosphere, and few hand-crafted gifts or decorations. North of Verona, in the Alto Adige region between there and the Austrian border, are a number of Christmas markets that reflect the dual Austrian-Italian heritage of this Sud-Tirol region. These markets are more akin to those In Innsbruck,Austria, just across the Brenner Pass.
In Bolzano is one of Italy’s best-known Christmas markets, which uses the German name of Christkindlmarkt. Look for holiday ornaments, carved wood creche figures and Christmas decorations, as well as crafts. The latter includes warm hand-knit hats, Tyrolean wood carving, brightly painted wooden tree decorations, decorated candles and gingerbread. A similar market of crafts and decorations surrounds the cathedral in Bressanone’s Weihnachtsmarkt, the entire month of December.
