Sant Jaume Nativity Scene
By Charlotte Stace
Every December a giant nativity scene or “Pesebre” is installed in Plaça Sant Jaume. Coinciding with the opening of many of the city’s Christmas markets, this scene is loved by locals and tourists alike.
This year, the space will be hosting an installation by set designer Ignasi Cristià, which pays tribute to the Neapolitan Nativity scene tradition and forms part of the celebration of 800 years of the nativity.
On the night of Christmas in 1223 in the Italian city of Greccio, Francis of Assisi created the first ever nativity scene in history: in an almost empty cave, a bare nativity. Centuries later, Naples took the idea and brought the religious event into a social setting. Now, Cristià takes up the tradition of the Neapolitan nativity scene and brings it to Barcelona. The city and its everyday life become the backdrop to one of the most important moments in the story of the nativity.