SAN GREGORIO ARMENO: the road of the cribs

Via San Gregorio Armeno is the famous street of the crib artisans, famous all over the world for the countless handicraft shops dedicated to the art of presepi. The street and the shops can be visited throughout the year and the visitor is thus relayed every time to the magical Christmas atmosphere.

The famous street connects perpendicularly to two of the Neapolitan decumans, the Decumano Maggiore (via dei Tribunali) and the Decumano Inferiore (via San Biagio dei Librai).

The tradition of craftsmen in via S. Gregorio has its roots in antiquity since in this way in the classical era there was a temple dedicated to Cerise Attica, to which the inhabitants seemed to offer terracotta statuettes, manufactured in the nearby shops such as Ex voto. The birth of the Neapolitan crib rises only at the end of the eighteenth century, but it is significant to know that at this time this area was characterized by the presence of craftsmen engaged in the manufacture of decorated statues.

The Neapolitan crib is the place where sacred and profane, spirituality and daily life, prayer and irony reside as only in Naples. Every shepherd, every element of the crib has its meaning and symbology, becoming a living and felt expression of the Neapolitan soul.

Examples of historic Neapolitan cribs are kept in many historic museums in the city, one of which is the Museum of the Opera in the complex of San Lorenzo Maggiore.