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Video length: 4 min
Christmas: in Naples, there’s no question of ending the year without a raffle game
Christmas: in Naples, there’s no question of ending the year without a raffle game – (France 2)
Every year, for Christmas, the inhabitants of Naples in Italy are passionate about the game of raffle. A friendly tradition that brings together young and old alike.
The raffle is an essential tradition during Neapolitan Christmas meals in Italy. The rules of the game of chance are inspired by the tumultuous history of the southern Italian city. The principle is simple: numbers are drawn from a wicker basket, and the first to fill their grid wins the game. But in the Naples raffle, each number refers to a symbol. “10: the canon, 64: the nuns, 69: the debts.”
An evolution of the lottery in the face of censorship
“We’re all together, it’s a great game and there are prizes to be won“, exclaims a young boy. The game appeared in Naples in the middle of the 18th century, where it was authorized by King Charles III throughout the year except at Christmas time. An exception made not to not distract the faithful from prayer. But the Neapolitans do not want to do without the game and invent “the lottery of the small streets of the city“during which they shout out the numbers”with a code“, explains Davide Brandi, historian specializing in Naples. This is how the corresponding symbols are born.
