And here we are in Basilicata! It is a beautiful region at the centre of Southern Italy and it is also known as Lucania. Today Christmas in Basilicata means traditions, scents, colors, parties and very good food. It is a religious holiday that always manages to keep alive rituals transmitted from father to son. Year after year the gestures are always the same, even if the ritual that is repeated with more energy is the cooking, as indeed in all Italian regions. And the table is still the place where the family comes together, where to breathe the scent of the peasant and pastoral past.
Basilicata has a long tradition of living nativity scenes. Small villages and charming old towns become enchanted scenarios as the setting and recalling the Nativity.
One of the most famous is the Living Nativity set in Matera but also in Sant’Angelo le Fratte, Muro Lucano, Filiano and in many other municipalities of the region.
Sassi of Matera, Unesco heritage, celebrate Christmas with a Living Nativity since 2010. The hearth of the holy family becomes the hearth of an entire city and a unique place. Ancient town carved into the rock recalls the original place of the Nativity for its natural shape, for the uniqueness of the landscape, for the balance between human settlement and the ecosystem and for the continuity of life from prehistory to the present. The Nativity takes place in eight scenes as a theatrical play. It refers to the Roman era: the ancient crafts of the soldiers to the vendors of various goods. While all Sassi are illuminated by a big comet.
