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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Angela Giuffrida in Rome

‘What is going on here?’ Meloni celebrated at Italy’s far-right Atreju Christmas festival

Christmas decorations and lights in green, silver, red and black stripes around a tall cone with a star on top in front of the stone castle; there are huts and wooden stalls around the entrance and people are coming out of the event. It is dark with the star  illuminated over the castle
The Atreju festival began in 1998 as a platform for debate among the youth wing of the National Alliance, which evolved into Brothers of Italy. Photograph: Chris Warde-Jones

When, out of curiosity, Leila Cader and her friends entered the gardens surrounding Castel Sant’Angelo, a prominent Rome monument that once served as a refuge for popes during times of war, they thought they’d chanced upon an enchanting winter wonderland.

With the scent of mulled wine wafting through the air, Santa’s elves wandering around, stalls selling nativity-scene figurines and skaters merrily gliding on an ice-rink, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

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