Naples gears up to protect San Gregorio Armeno's nativity tradition

For 152 years, Naples has been renewing the characteristic tradition of the eighteenth-century nativity scenes in San Gregorio Armeno. The Nativity Fair had its ribbon-cutting ceremony in the presence of the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, who as of this year patronizes and supports this ancient craft that finds a world-renowned way in this corner of Naples. The 18th-century nativity scene has been built here with the same methods and materials for 150 years: heads, hands and feet made of terracotta or wood, crystal eyes, bodies made of iron wire and hemp, and silk clothes, all with extreme attention to detail even in the expressiveness of the faces. It is an art brought here from Spain that the Neapolitans have been able to make magical and that artisans hand down from generation to generation.

To give you an idea of how crowded the street on either side of which are only crib stores suffice it to say that to avoid hindrances and crowds since last year it has been planned to establish a one-way pedestrian way: all people entering it will be able to do so in one direction, and the novelty this year is the request to make the one-way alternate every weekend so as not to penalize or favor the first or the last (i.e., one weekend we start from San Biagio Street going up and the next from Tribunali Street going down).

Christmas is less than a month away, and here in the run-up to the Immaculate Conception (December 8 is the day to set up the tree and take in the house) it is a swarming of artisans and shoppers of all nationalities. The highlight will be the white night between the 7th and 8th that as happened decades ago all the stores on the street were open to allow even latecomers to come and buy figurines.

So characteristic is this street that the City of Naples has approved a resolution prohibiting the opening of businesses that are not crib artisans. The resolution is part of a broader one that affects the entire historic center and establishes a three-year stop to the opening of new food and beverage businesses: the area affected by the constraint has an area of 1.2 square kilometers and within it 1,555 of the 8,020 food and beverage businesses present throughout the city operate. Between 2019 and 2022, the growth rate of these activities was 10 percent annually, with the largest increase being in catering with take-out food preparation. Special attention is paid by the protection plan to Via San Gregorio Armeno. Here the three-year freeze will affect all activities that are not production or sales activities related to the artisanal processing of shepherds.

“This is,” says Naples Mayor Manfredi, £a plan to enhance the commercial offer in the historic center because we need a quality offer that intercepts both the needs of the citizens and those related to the large influx of tourists. We decided in the first place to enhance certain streets to maintain an artistic and artisan vocation that is a priority for us. This applies to San Gregorio Armeno. We want, then, to make sure that we avoid unbridled competition between food-related activities and craft and commercial activities because a mix of the offer is fundamental. Following what has already been done in other Italian cities of art, we will have for three years a block on new openings for certain types of commercial activities within the historic center, in areas identified in agreement with the Superintendence. Nativity art is one of the most iconic traditions of Naples, it is a bit of the soul of the city everyone feels a bit more like a child when they come here. This year we wanted this historic fair to have the support of the City Council precisely to make sure that it is well supported and regulated: we have to support all the entrepreneurial and commercial initiatives in the city. we can say that with today Christmas begins a little bit."

A tradition that repeats itself but at the same time evolves and personalizes: no longer just the typical figures of shepherd children, this street has also become the setting for the emerging personalities of our time to whom the master craftsmen dedicate a figurine that more than resembles them (from soccer players to sportsmen, from singers to actors to politicians). All strictly handmade, and in all sizes (all already arranged for shipments even overseas to be offered to tourists). Their workshops are not just workshops but almost haute couture “ateliers” with accessories and metal minutiae everywhere, where manual dexterity and ingenuity are the masters.

Photo: Wikimedia/RaffaellaRA

Naples gears up to protect San Gregorio Armeno's nativity tradition

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