“My latest creation, Sinner, has been an extraordinary success; it has sold in great quantities, I have had a really intense week”.
Even the famous street of nativity scenes in Naples, San Gregorio Armeno, celebrates the Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, fresh from his Davis Cup triumph and his first victory against Novak Djokovic in Turin.
The nativity scene master is a witness to this Genny DiVirgil, which adds: “Among the requested characters are Maurizio Costanzo and Silvio Berlusconi, followed by various footballers: Ciro Immobile, Lautaro Martinez, our Victor Osimhen and Pupone. Maria De Filippi is always very popular. And there is our great mister Mazzarri who is back, but also Rudi Garcia who left with a nice trolley”.
“The road – explains Di Virgilio – it is invaded by tourists, with a strong interest especially for the classic nativity scene; many nativities are purchased. Then there is always the demand for the bagpipers and the Three Wise Men”.
Tradition and contemporaneity merge along San Gregorio Armeno: Maradona is always present, as well as Spalletti, now an honorary citizen of Napoli wearing the national team uniform; Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Matteo Salvini. And also the Mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi and the tennis player Roger Federer, Che Guevara and the unfortunate Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, Antonino Cannavacciuolo, Lucio Dalla and many others.
The art of the nativity scene and its tradition are alive in Naples all year round, but this is the period of maximum splendor for the artisans' workshops. A solution to preserve this art and this centuries-old tradition comes from Vincenzo Capuano, president of the association The Shops of San Gregorio Armeno.
Capuano announces: “Next year we will open the Neapolitan nativity scene school”
“Next year, between March and April, we will open,” he says, “the Neapolitan nativity scene school, which has already been partly subsidized by the Italian-Americans who came to visit us and who really liked the project. We will pay particular attention to kids who stop at the third year of middle school and have no job opportunities. We will train 20 kids a year in four different areas: sculpture, scenography, tailoring and miniatures.”
Today, until midnight, extraordinary opening of the shops of San Gregorio Armeno and Piazza San Gaetano for the traditional setting up of the nativity scene at the Immaculate Conception, “our special protector”, Capuano recalls. Furthermore, with the Immaculate Conception bridge, via San Gregorio Armeno will be affected by the one-way pedestrian system that starts from the intersection of via San Biagio dei Librai and vico Figurari to head towards piazza San Gaetano. The special plan arranged by the Municipality of Naples will be in force during the December long weekends and until Christmas 2023.
@All rights reserved
Article published on 7 December 2023 - 19:37
Video Chronicles
