Historic Italian village credited for first-of-its-kind Christmas Nativity scene draws crowds for 800 years
This small village has a rich religious history, being credited with starting the tradition of live Nativity scenes.
Located in the Lazio region of Italy, the town of Greccio is where Saint Francis of Assisi first started the religious custom.
Saint Francis visited Greccio after his journey to Palestine and wanted to depict the Nativity in a cave, asking for a manger to be built with an ox and a donkey, according to a local tourist association, the Pro Loco Greccio’s site.
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“Legend has it that during the Holy Mass, the infant boy made a miraculous appearance, and the saint took him in his arms,” the site reads.
“It was the night of 24 December 1223, a date that marked the birth of the first living nativity scene in history and triggered a tradition that has continued to this day in various places throughout Italy,” the site says.
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Greccio has been dubbed the “Franciscan Bethlehem” among worshipers far and wide.
Each year, Greccio celebrates the holiday season by reenacting the birth of the Savior on Christmas Eve, repeating the Nativity until the end of Christmas festivities in January.
Greccio is located roughly 60 miles outside Rome.
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The reenactment has six actors in tableaux wearing hand-sewn period clothes while reciting texts on the life and sermons of Saint Francis of Assisi, according to Pro Loco Greccio.
The Rev. Patrick Briscoe, a Catholic priest based in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that last year marked the 800th anniversary of the first Nativity scene by Saint Francis.
“Francis’ genius lay in the fact that he knew that depictions of the Nativity allow Christians everywhere to embrace the solemn mystery of Christmas,” said Briscoe.
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Briscoe said that seeing figures helps believers more easily “contemplate the glory of that first Christmas.”
“Setting up a Nativity scene in your home allows your home to become another Bethlehem, a place to welcome Christ at Christmas,” he added.
“Nativity scenes should draw our hearts and minds to the Holy Land, where Jesus Christ was born, and inspire our prayers for peace,” said Briscoe.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Pro Loco Greccio for comment.