The custom of staging nativity scenes at Christmas hearkens back to St Francis, who, in 1223 at the sanctuary at Greccio, called together townspeople and local livestock to create a living crèche scene, a tableau of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem. Today the sanctuary is host to dozens of miniature nativity scenes, and as part of our 2023 Assisi to Rome group trek we photographed over 50 of them to share with you. You’ll notice they come in many styles, but all of them are hand crafted by artisans from all around the world who sent them to Greccio in celebration of St Francis’s vision for the celebration of Christmas.
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