The building of Presipios started in 1223, by Saint Francis of Assisi, where in a natural cave, in the town of Greccio, he prepared a straw -filled manger, complete with animals. It spread to other countries and grew in complexity that reached the heights of splendor and intricacy In the late 1700's.

Many of these Presipios  are considered Art Treasures. Some are on permanent display in museums, or are reassembled at Christmas-time in the great churches of Italy.
 

In Italy the style and materials used in creating the manger was characterized by geographical origin and historical periods.

The Sicilian presepe, for instance, featured materials such as coral, ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, alabaster, and other sea materials, while the Roman presesepe reproduced the typical landscape of the Roman country, including pine and olive trees and the ancient aqueducts.

In Napoli «fare il presepe», that is, the representation of the Holy Family, became a true art. In 18th century Naples, for instance, the presepe became an elaborate, dramatic scene, full of minor characters with its own conventions that have little to do with the Biblical story.

These intricate scenes, with figures in wood or terracotta made by leading sculptors, were destined not for churches but for the houses of wealthy patrons.

Today that tradition lives on in Via San Gregorio Armeno. In the center of Naples, this narrow street, which runs past the 16th century Benedictine convent of the same name, is crowded with hundreds of artisan workshops with colorful window displays and stalls overflowing with Nativity scenes.

Also in Naples at the Museo Nazionale di San Martino is "Il Presepe Cuciniello", a monumental collection from the 1700's that includes shepherds, angels, and animals.

In modern Italy there are living presepe, in which actors and animals recreate the Nativity scene, exhibitions with hundreds of crèches and mechanized figurines, and museums devoted solely to presepe.

In Vatican City there is an enormous nativity scene in Piazza San Pietro erected for the Christmas season.

For those collectors of nativity figurine, there are online specialty stores. Consider constructing your own crèche, or, in the spirit of the season, help a youngster build his first presepe. The tradition of crèches in Italy exemplifies a culture rich in artistic patrimony, and provides insight into Italian religious, linguistic, and storytelling history.

As we have seen the Presepios vary in different regions, there is also a distinct difference between the Italian and the Italian American Presepios.

In Italy, the religion, society and culture are united. In America, all the parts are there, but there is a disconnect, partly due to the Church/State separation "phobia".

But in both Italy and America, the individual "creativity" is as much a part of the pleasure as recreating parts of the original theme.

It was the winter of 1223. Christmas was coming, and a man named Francis was busily preparing a novel celebration near Assisi, high in the snow-covered Umbrian hills. He was the creator of the first live nativity scene. Francis was later known as Saint Francis – the patron saint of Italy.
 

And his modest little reenactment of the Gospel story grew into a Christmas tradition beloved not only in Italy, but in many other countries around the world. It is called a crèche in French, nacimiento in Spanish. In Italian, it is the presepio, meaning "manger" or "crib."

The participants in the first live presepio enjoyed it so much that they repeated it year after year. Soon other towns took it up – and the custom spread. And someone, somewhere, had the idea of creating a presepio using small, carved figures. One of the earliest known manger scenes of this type appeared around the end of the 1200s, in Rome’s Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It still exists today.

At first, the scenes were simple and included only the Babe, Joseph, and Mary. Figures were usually crude, made of wood or clay. In the mid-1600s, the nobility became captivated by the presepi. The best artists available were commissioned to produce mangers, but now they were no longer merely Nativity groupings. Other Biblical tales were added, and the background began to portray typical Italian scenes, complete with bustling, crowded streets, or sheep-dotted mountainsides.

The Spanish Prince Charles of Bourbon became king of Naples in 1734, as Charles IV. He was fascinated by the miniature reproductions and enjoyed designing elaborate settings for them. Some say he even carved a few of the figures himself. His queen, Maria Amalia, sewed exquisite costumes for the figures with her own hands, as did her ladies in waiting. They used lace and rich fabrics, real jewels, and gold and silver.

By the late 1700s, the Neapolitan presepi reached heights of splendor and intricacy that have never since been equaled. Noble lords and ladies visited each other’s houses to compare the lavish productions. A manger sometimes would occupy an entire room or even sprawl into adjacent rooms. The settings and figures were objects of religious devotion, to be sure, but they were also enchanting toys.

The figures were completely realistic, down to the last wrinkle or wart, tiny vegetable or fruit, lantern or musical instrument. Each small human was dressed according to occupation or rank and in the fashion of the times: from great ladies and gentlemen down to the humblest villager. Men sat in a tavern drinking wine and twirling spaghetti on forks. Housewives haggled with vendors or wearily swept their doorsteps. Animals wandered amiably through the streets, a donkey lay down and rolled in the grass, a cow scratched with her hind leg.

Real waterfalls tumbled down rocky hillsides, and fountains gushed real water. In some presepi, Mount Vesuvius could be seen erupting in the background. So cleverly put together were the panoramas that it seemed as though the figures actually moved, breathed, sang, argued, ate, and drank. The scenes were fantastic and exuberant – vividly authentic reproductions of Neapolitan life, and masterpieces of the sculptor’s art.

Fortunately, many of those magnificent, centuries-old presepi may still be seen. Some are on permanent display in museums or are reassembled at Christmas-time in the great churches of Italy. King Charles’ splendid exhibit, with 1,200 individual pieces, is in the Royal Palace of Caserta.

In Rome, one of the most impressive Christmas cribs may be visited at the Basilica of Saints Cosmos and Damian, near the Coliseum. It was created more than 200 years ago in Naples. Forty-five feet long, twenty-one feet wide, and twenty-seven feet high, it contains hundreds of hand-carved wooden figures.

Rome has the most famous Christ Child, too, the revered Santo Bambino, in the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. The little image is encrusted with precious jewels; its lifelike coloring is supposed to have been added by angels’ hands. According to legend, a monk carved it of wood from the Mount of Olives in the Holy Land. The figure is believed to have miraculous healing powers. Once it was stolen, the story goes, but managed to return all by itself, waking up the friars by ringing the church bells and knocking loudly on the door. Supposedly, the small figure scolded them for having been so careless.

In Maranola, a small town near Formia, the live nativity scene is reenacted twice during the Christmas holidays. ITT provides tours for the community. Don’t miss this opportunity.

http://www.nsa.naples.navy.mil/gaetansa/newpage125.htm
 

Fleisher Art Memorial Neapoltan Presepio Installation in Philadelphia
http://www.fleisher.org/exhibitions/presepio.php

Creche Herald- Location of Creches In UShttp://www.op.net/~bocassoc/Issue3/article1.htm