Did you know that in Naples it’s Christmas all year long? No joke, there is a street in the old town centre of Naples where some beautiful crib’s statues are made and sold in any season. This street is Via San Gregorio Armeno, known throughout the world for this unique characteristic as the Road of the Cribs.
These statues produced in San Gregorio Armeno in fact are exported all over the world and they also a real tourist attraction for many tourists who come from everywhere to discover the magical and controversial beauty of Naples. Along this typical street of the old town centre, located between Via dei Tribunali and the avenue called Spaccanapoli, there are some historical craftsman’s workshops, inside the so called “bassi”, popular housing of Naples on the ground floor.
Many statues are inspired by historic cribs of past centuries, such as the one that there is inside the San Martino Museum, the famous Cuciniello’s Crib, dating back to the late nineteenth century. This artistic crib shows like in a snapshot the uses and Neapolitan folklore of that age. The characters that give life to the shows are in fact decorated and dressed up following the popular fashion of the time, reinventing real life scenes and work scenes.
Everyone can have a piece of the history of Naples and a real small work of art at home. The crib is a ritual passed down from generation to generation for many Italian families. The Crib can make Christmas even more special.
San Gregorio Armeno can’t be considered as a real Christmas market, since it is possible to visit it throughout the year. During the Christmas season this road gets crowded beyond belief, with masses of people who want to add a new piece to their collection of statuettes of the crib.
In recent years the eccentricity of the Neapolitan craftsmen produced very special statuettes, caricatures of celebrities and vips, footballers politicians!
Tag: Christmas 2009 in Naples, Christmas in Italy, San Gregorio Armenio's Cribs, Shopping in Italy
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