About the Bethlehem nativity scene, or where it all began

In Poland the Christmas crib is one of the most anticipated attractions during the Christmas and New Year period, especially by the youngest, enchanted by the magic of Christmas. They are an indispensable part of Christmas. They tend to be: unique, beautiful, big, small, controversial, touching, moving or commenting on contemporary social phenomena.

The Franciscan tradition of staging the Night of Bethlehem is more than 800 years old. In 1223 in Assisi, St. Francis, with the permission of Pope Honorius III, used animals and his parishioners to create the first living nativity scene in history. Over time, the idea spread throughout Europe, and the manger in a stable became a cultural symbol.

They came to Poland in the 13th century through the Bernardines. The oldest figures of Mary and Joseph date back to the 14th century and are kept in the Poor Clares convent at St. Andrew's Church in Krakow.

In the Polish tradition, the stable with scenes of the Savior's birth appear just before the midnight mass in almost all churches. Children, young people and the elderly are often involved in their construction.

In the 1980s, figures of John Paul II, who was born in Wadowice, appeared among the traditional figures of the Savior's birth. The Pope's hometown has preserved customs associated with preparations for Christmas, i.e. Christmas Eve, traditional foods, sharing of the wafer, Midnight Mass and the Epiphany procession. One of them is also the custom of visiting the manger with the baby.

Every year, the residents of Wadowice visit the nativity scenes in the Chapel of the Holy Family in the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wadowice, as well as in the Monastery of the Discalced Carmelites and the moving nativity scene in the Church of St. Peter the Apostle. The most popular annual nativity scene is the Bernardine Fathers Sanctuary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, which also attracts tourists from many regions of Poland.