The Neapolitan Nativity Scene has an ancient history, which dates back to the year 1000!. Even today, in Neapolitan homes, during the Christmas period, families dedicate themselves to creating the nativity scene, with the characters purchased in Via San Gregorio Armeno or with the shepherds inherited from parents or grandparents.
You choose a suitable table or piece of furniture and start by creating the mountains with rock paper, and then position the houses. The most skilled, naturally, try their hand at creating their own little houses, recycling boxes and tins, to decorate with tempera colours.
Moss is used for a more realistic effect; with tinfoil you create the river where the water actually flows, thanks to the accessories that can be bought in Via San Gregorio Armeno.
In the end, the entire family gathers in admiration of their work.
But, to tell the truth, not everyone likes the nativity scene: the famous scene from "Christmas in the Cupiello house" is unforgettable where the great Eduardo De Filippo is busy making his Nativity scene and asks his son: "do you like the Nativity scene?" And he replies "I don't like it!"
A little history - from Wikipedia
The Neapolitan nativity scene is a representation of the birth of Jesus traditionally set in eighteenth-century Naples.
Neapolitan nativity scene art has remained unchanged for centuries, becoming part of the most consolidated and followed Christmas traditions of the city. Famous in Naples, in fact, is the well-known street of nativity scenes (via San Gregorio Armeno) which offers a showcase of all the local craftsmanship relating to the nativity scene. Furthermore, there are numerous city and non-city museums (such as the San Martino museum or the Caserta palace) in which historical pieces or entire scenes set during the birth of Jesus are exhibited.
... In the seventeenth century the nativity scene expanded its scope. It was no longer just the cave of the Nativity that was represented, but also the external profane world: in pure baroque style, representations of taverns with well-displayed fresh meats and baskets of fruit and vegetables became widespread and the scenes became sumptuous and detailed (Michele Perrone was among the leading artists in this field), while the characters became smaller: wooden or papier-mâché mannequins were also preferred in the eighteenth century.
The golden century of the Neapolitan nativity scene is the eighteenth century, when Charles III of Bourbon reigned. Thanks to the artistic and cultural flourishing in that period, even the shepherds changed their appearance. The clients were no longer just the religious orders, but also the rich and the nobles.
One of the richest and largest collections of nativity scenes in the world can be found in the Bavarian National Museum (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum) in Munich. The majority of the collection came to the museum from the private collection of Max Schmederer.
But the Museum of the Certosa di San Martino is certainly the point of reference for studies on the Neapolitan nativity scene, in addition to the rich nativity scenes still preserved intact in Naples and elsewhere. Perhaps the most famous and acclaimed example of a Neapolitan nativity scene is the Cuciniello nativity scene created between 1887 and 1889 and exhibited in San Martino; another very famous one, sometimes exhibited in the royal palace, is the Banco di Napoli Nativity Scene which also has figurines made in the eighteenth century by Lorenzo Mosca. In the twentieth century this tradition gradually disappeared, but today large nativity scenes are regularly set up in all the main churches of the capital Campania and many Neapolitans still set it up in their homes.