Winter solstice 2020: hours of sunset city by city. Meaning and traditions



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Here it is again Winter Solstice. The appointment is set for this year Monday December 21, date that will officially mark the beginning of the astronomical winter season in our hemisphere (that is, the north). The event will take place 10:02 Italian time at the point and will be associated as a rule with shortest day of the year, contrary to the popular saying about Saint Lucia.

What is the winter solstice

Astronomically, the winter solstice is the time when the Sun reaches the point of
minimal decline in its apparent movement along the ecliptic, that is the path that our parent star seems to travel annually with respect to the background of the celestial sphere. On a practical level, our perception of the December solstice is related to the fact that we have a day with
very few hours of light; the opposite of what happens during the summer solstice, when the decline reaches its maximum and in the northern hemisphere we have the longest day of the year. After the watershed of December 21, the cold season will take over autumn, with a pleasant disadvantage:
increased daylight hours. Ultimately, the days will lengthen again, although in such a slow way that it cannot be appreciated immediately.

The shortest day in Italian cities

As mentioned, the solstice (from the Latin solstitium, union of ‘sol’, ‘Sun’ and ‘sistere’, ‘stop’) defines a
precise moment of the day. On December 21, 2020, the appointment will begin at 10:02 a.m., Italian solar time. As for daylight hours, a
Rome the shortest day of the year will last, for example, 9 hours and 7 minutes, with the sun rising at 7:34 am and setting at 4:42 pm. TO
Milan natural light will be present for 8 hours and 42 minutes, a
Florence for 8 hours and 53 minutes,
Naples for 9 hours and 14 minutes.

Traditions: the winter solstice from ancient times to today

In
pre christian age the movement of the stars was attributed to the will of the gods: the winter solstice represented, therefore, an event full of
spiritual meanings, which sanctioned the victory of light over darkness, as well as of life over death. For this reason, the Germanic, Celtic and more general populations of northern Europe were paying tribute to the progressive exit from darkness with the
Christmas party, which included a period of rest accompanied by dances and banquets. The tradition continued in Iceland throughout the Middle Ages, until the time of the Protestant Reformation. Even now Yule is a fixture in
neopaganesimous, which on December 21 celebrates one of the eight
Saturday, the festivals linked to the movement of the Sun. At the end of the Roman Empire, the
cult of the Sun Invicus (‘Sole invitto’), which was synonymous with rebirth, and which according to some reconstructions would constitute the
pagan origin of christmas.

Staying on topic it is impossible not to mention
Stonehenge, the Neolithic site located in Wiltshire, England, whose large stones (called megaliths) are arranged to have a perfect view of the sunset during the solstices. Every December Stonehenge is
pilgrimage destination for tourists, followers of the
druidism and other spiritual movements, which rejoice to receive the repetition of the astronomical phenomenon. This year, due to
COVID-19, the entrance to the site is however regulated by
security rules rigorous (among other things it is necessary to reserve), which also foresee the impossibility of accessing some areas.

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