Naples. San Gregorio Armeno, the road of Nativity Scenes.
At Christmas in Via San Gregorio Armeno, in the heart of the old town in Naples, the skilful Nativity Scene makers set up their shops, next to each other. Their stalls have all you need for your Christmas crib, or presepe: cork, hand-painted terracotta figurines, miniature animals, shops, musk, and more…
The streets are filled with people and Christmas lights. Christmas carols can be heard all around. The air is filled with the aroma of roasted chestnuts and some of the traditional Neapolitan pastries, such as babà and freshly baked sfogliatella.
Both Neapolitans and tourists rush to these Christmas markets: the former to build a Christmas crib from scratch, the latter to enjoy the stalls of ancient art.
The Nativity Scene is amongst one of the best expressions of the Rococo style and it was a great passion of the noble Bourbon family.
Nativity Scenes always relate to the following elements: the nativity and the tavern, depicting the sacred and the profane. On the one hand there is the Holy Virgin, Saint Joseph and baby Jesus in a cave (according to the Gospel), or in a crumbling temple (according to the discoveries in Pompeii and Herculaneum). On the other hand there are taverns with their customers enjoying the traditional Neapolitan Christmas dishes and Christmas cakes like panettone, pandoro, and cantuccini (almond biscuits).
In the area all around the tavern the presepe depicts Naples at the end of the 18th century, with all the traditional crafts of that time: greengrocers, butchers, cheese sellers, pasta sellers, fish mongers, chestnut sellers, and many more…
However there is also a more contemporary version of the Nativity Scene. Every year San Gregorio Armeno’s Nativity Scene masters manufacture parodies of famous characters from show business, politics, fashion, sport, and culture: Donald Trump, Pope Francis, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Alda Merini, Neapolitan footballers, to name but a few.
If you happen to walk along the shops, you will see the Nativity Scene masters busy at work. You will be able to see them handcrafting terracotta figurines, pastori, with their terracotta head, glass eyes, wooden hands and feet, body made of straw with a wire core.
Quoting Eduardo De Filippo in one of his most famous lines “te piace ‘o presepe” (do you like cribs?)