In Naples, in the Christmas cribs, even the santons have their sanitary pass

In front of the Di Virgilio store and workshop, in the center of Naples, there is a crowd: foreign and Italian tourists flock to be photographed in front of the great santons of the moment. Thirty centimeters for Greta Thunberg, character of the year, but also the essential Maradona, Pope Francis and many Italian personalities. Maestro Genny Di Virgilio’s family has been making these santons for four generations and this year, the pandemic has inspired them.

“I created a nursery with vaccinated Three Kings who, instead of carrying gold, myrrh and frankincense, carry the sanitary pass, with already the third dose! They are well and can go see the child -Jesus! “

Genny Di Virgilio

to franceinfo

Next to the Three Wise Men, another crèche with refugees on the border between Poland and Belarus. The Di Virgilio family works on their characters throughout the year, inspired by current events, and their nativity scenes impress the Italians themselves. To the point of forgetting their own crib, like Giuliano, who comes from Puglia. “No, I don’t have one … Oh yes, my God! But not as elaborate, very simple. It’s especially for children: we have a very classic one, a Playmobil, with small figurines, but it’s very simple and it’s for the symbol!“

The most addicted are often the Neapolitans, like Pasquale. He has been coming here for decades because he maintains his nursery every day. “At home, if there is not the nursery every year, it is as if it was not Christmas! I have figurines of 10 to 12 centimeters on average, of several dimensions, so that we can clearly see the depth of the crib. It is very large, around 5 to 6 m2! With my wife, we always argue because she tells me that my nursery takes up a whole room. In addition, I keep it 365 days a year! But I put the Child Jesus and the Nativity only for Christmas. The rest of the time it’s an old village, and the more I look at it, the more I like it! “

Via San Gregorio Armeno is the street of the nursery in Naples where only the shops that sell sentons and nurseries are allowed. In all, there are about fifty, but this year – Covid obliges – the pedestrian street is one-way, at least on weekends.