A Neapolitan Nativity Scene and a Polish Christmas Tree Adorns the Vatican

An 85-foot long and 60-foot wide area has been placed at their disposal. To cover the various costs, the religious will have to count on the Region of Campania and private sponsors.

A Neapolitan nativity scene will be inaugurated in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on December 7, and it will remain lit up with the Christmas tree until January 7, the day after the feast of the Epiphany. It is a 2500 square-foot, 22-foot high,18th century style, traditional Neapolitan work. Inspired by the works of mercy, it has about twenty characters in polychromatic terra cotta, each about 6 ½ feet high. Their crystal eyes and cloth garments make them look almost human.

In 2016, the nativity scene was provided by the archdiocese and government of Malta. In 2015, the representation of Christ’s birth was realized by the Region of Trentino-Alto-Adige.

A giant Christmas tree will stand next to the obelisk in St. Peter’s Square, a 90-foot high spruce with a 30-foot circumference from the region of Elk, in north-eastern Poland. It will be decorated by child cancer patients from different hospitals in Italy, and by children from central Italy, a zone struck by earthquakes in 2016.

The nativity scene will be taken down on February 2, feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple.