Italy’s Christmas Nativity Scenes
Images of the Holy Family May be Hundreds of Years Old
Nearly every Italian town has a presepio, often of life-sized crèche figures that retell the night in Bethlehem. Some of the best are in Greccio, Rome, Naples and Verona.
St. Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first public nativity scene, or presepio, as the Italians call them. It was in 1223, when the saint built a replica of the manger scene at his hermitage in Greccio, on a mountain near Assisi. People from the village climbed in a torch-lit procession to see the nativity, which included a donkey and an ox next to it to make it more real.
The scene is repeated each Christmas Eve at the hermitage at Greccio, which looks much the same as it did in St. Francis’s time, and all over Italy. Some of these are living nativity scenes with real people, while others use life-sized or smaller figures made of carved wood, terra cotta and other materials. Often the figures are dressed in real clothing.
Most of Rome’s churches have precepi, some of which show priceless old figures that have been treasured for centuries. Large outdoor scenes are set up on the Spanish Steps, in Piazza del Popolo, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican and at the Christmas market in Piazza Navona, along with several other places. The creche at the Spanish Steps includes an 18th-century street scene.
In the Cinque Terre, on the Ligurian coast, the town of Riomaggiore has an excellent precipio, and in the Piemonte, the town of Alagna creates a nativity scene entirely from ice on Christmas Eve.
Naples is known for having Italy’s most elaborate precipi, and is also famous for the craftsmen who create the nativity figures. May of these are carved from wood and dressed in satin finery. In the month of December, Via San Gregorio Armenov in Naples is lined with craftsmen selling nativity figures and scenes of wood, ceramic, terra cotta, plaster and other materials. Also in Naples, Galleria Umberto has a huge precipio based on Neapolitan scenes.
An immense collection of crèche scenes and figures dating as far back as the 1400s is on display at the Museo della Certosa di San Martino, high on a hill overlooking Naples. In Verona, the arcade of the first-century Roman Arena houses the Rassegna del Presepe in December and January. This exhibit displays more than 200 nativity scenes from all over the world.
The best places to shops for entire scenes or for individual crèche figures is at the market on Via San Gregorio Armeno in Naples or at one of the Christmas markets in the Alto Adige region north of Verona.
