The History Behind the Christmas Crib

There's a very important element of the Christmas decoration that Christians would never forget to display in their home during the holiday season. This element is the Christmas crib. Some call it creche, some other call it presipio, krippe or nacimiento but all those appelations refer to the most important symbol of Christmas: the crib.

The whole decorative element Christians name "Christmas crib" includes baby Jesus' in the manger where he lied the days of his birth, along with his parents, a cow and a lamb in a wooden stable. Most renditions also include the three magi and, depending on the collection, the artist or the area where the Christmas crib has been produced, angels, shepherds, and other people.

The tradition of setting up a Christmas crib scene then began in Italy, then in France and the rest of Europe. All Christians, rich or poor, placed a crib in their home during the holiday season, churches also set up their own cribs and people would even find Christmas cribs on public places. Because of the different customs, depending on the area the crib was displayed, the decor and the characters, apart from baby Jesus and his mother Mary, were different.

Nowadays, Christmas cribs are available in any good retailing store, they can be ordered by artists, found in thrift stores or flea markets and can even be homemade. Christmas cribs can be tiny or big, lighted or not, they can be made out of porcelain or silver as well as wood or clay. There are Christmas crib displays for indoor use as well as Christmas crib scenes for outdoor use. The Christmas crib range of choice is huge and it's often hard to make a decision on a specific model or version.

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