During the holiday season, the medieval village of Rivisondoli, located halfway between the Abruzzo National Park and the Maiella National Park, relives the magic of Christmas and becomes the natural stage for Italy’s oldest and best-known “Living Nativity Scene,” after the one in Greccio, whose first edition in fact dates back to 1951.
It is a religious, cultural and costume event held in Piè Lucente, a fairy-tale mountain setting nestled among the snow-capped peaks of the mountains bordering the Abruzzo and Molise and Majella National Park . Traditionally, the Baby Jesus is played by the village’s newest child, while this year the role of the Madonna will be played by Camilla Monaco, 16, from Rivisondoli, and the role of St. Joseph by Agostino Iannelli, a retired local police officer.
The 74th edition will be staged on the evening of Sunday Jan. 5, 2025, starting at 6 p.m, in the historic Piè Lucente Plain hut. A performance that will enliven the mountain municipality with 14 living nativity scenes, involving about 500 people who will be called upon to participate in what represents an important part of the cultural heritage of the entire mountain community.
The play unfolds in pictures that faithfully retrace the Gospel story, starting with a shepherd’s dream by the bivouac fire. Classic Nativity figures enliven the scene: shepherds descend from nearby mountains, costumed women move from the houses of the village, perched at the foot of Mount Calvary, and the Wise Men arrive from afar over a snowy landscape. In a hut lit by a beam of light and overlooked by a core of Angels, Mary and Joseph care for the Child.
A fantastic, yet natural theater, illuminated only by torchlight: a voiceover guides the viewer and gentle music of sounds dilutes the chill of a night full of charm and mystery in the mountains of Abruzzo.
For Information, you can visit the official website
