Befana Papal States, where the Epiphany held the most importance. Urbania is thought to be her official home. Every year there is a big festival held to celebrate the holiday. About 30,000 to 50,000 people attend the festivities. Hundreds of Befanas are present, swinging from the main tower. They juggle, dance and greet all the children. Traditionally, all Italian children may expect to find a lump of "coal" in their stockings (actually rock candy made black with caramel coloring), as every child has been at least occasionally bad during the year. Three places in Italy are nowadays associated with the Befana
Befana the name Befana is derived from the Italians' mispronunciation of the Greek word "epifania" or "epiphaneia" (Greek, επιφάνεια = appearance, surface, English: epiphany). Others point to the name being a derivative of Bastrina, the gifts associated with the goddess Strina. In the book "Domestic Life in Palestine", by Mary E. Rogers (Poe & Hitchcock, 1865) the author notes: A theory connects the tradition of exchanging gifts to an ancient Roman festivity in honour of Ianus and Strenia (in Italian a Christmas gift used to be called "strenna"), celebrated at the beginning of the year, when Romans used to give each