• Home
  • About me/Chi sono
  • Contact

Un po' di pepe

~ …… (oon∙poh∙dee∙PEH∙peh) Cristina writes about interesting stuff /Cristina scrive di cose interessanti

Un po' di pepe

Tag Archives: Via San Gregorio Armeno

Buon Natale~Il Presepio di Mamma

24 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Amici e Famiglia, Feste, Italian life

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Italian Christmas, Italian Christmas traditions, La Befana, Natale, Presepio, Via San Gregorio Armeno

It is probably obvious from my photos that I love le feste Natalizie-the Christmas season.  Festive décor, lights, music and baking help me get through the early darkness and awful weather at this time of year.  I decorate every room in my house, but my favourite piece of Christmas is definitely the Presepio.  A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about the history of Il Presepio and have included photos of mine in previous December posts.

My Presepio has grown over the years, but includes mostly the ‘main players’.  My Mamma’s Presepio also started out this way, but is now a whole village.  It was originally placed under the tree, since l’albero di Natale was a new tradition for most new italocanadesi.  It was eventually moved to the fireplace hearth, and then to a table.  The stable was originally ‘rustic’, made with one of those large paper grocery bags, with the rim folded down many times and a window cut out the back for a light, or a mandarin orange box covered in brown butcher paper. The figures were the Holy Family, an angel, and ox and donkey, a shepherd with a few sheep and the 3 Wise Men. The manger is empty in the photo, as Baby Gesù does not get placed there until tonight, la Vigilia di Natale.www.unpodipepe.caThe 3 Wise Men or Rè Magi are far off in the hills since they do not arrive in Bethlehem until the l’Epifania, January 6th. Trailing behind is La Befana trying to catch up to them.  www.unpodipepe.ca

Presepio figures are not easy to find in Vancouver, but she slowly acquired village people, more shepherds, camels and lots of other animals.  Various pieces were purchased in Assisi, the Vatican and Mexico, even a napkin holder from Venezuela doubles as il forno.  The beautiful starry sky was brought by a friend from Roma. In August I went to Via San Gregorio Armeno in Napoli, the street famous for Presepio making artigiani.

Via San Gregorio Armeni Napoli, Antonio Pepe, www.unpodipepe.ca

‘Lavorazioni di Pastori e Scenografie Presepiati Antonio Pepe’, Via San Gregorio Armeno, Napoli (no relation!)

The Presepio inventory is low in summer, but I bought a terra cotta prosciutto, capicollo and cacciotta and a cestino of eggs which you can see in the photo below. I also bought 2 tiny chairs just like the ones we have in Orsara. I forgot to buy a zampognaro-an Abruzzese bagpiping shepherd-so I will have to go back to Napoli!

Mamma gets very detailed and creative with her Presepio. She starts working on it mid November and really enjoys putting it together. I am often asked to help create accessories.  The cutest detail is the tiny loaves of bread, panini and focaccia Pugliese that she bakes for the forno.Presepio

It is interesting to note that San Francesco d’Assisi created the first Presepio in 1223 in an attempt to return to the true meaning of Christmas and take the focus off of gift-giving.  So Charlie Brown was not the first to search for ‘the true meaning of Christmas’! If any of you have a Presepio, I would love to hear about it!

Cari lettori di Un po’ di pepe, Vi augura un Buonissimo Natale e un meraviglioso 2019 piena di gioia e salute!

Dear readers of Un po’ di pepe, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a marvelous 2019 filled with health and joy!

Ciao, Cristina

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Il Presepio

23 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Culture, Feste, Italian life

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Greccio, L'Immacolata, Napoli, Nativity history, Presepio, San Francesco d'Assisi, Via San Gregorio Armeno

presepio2014L’Immacolata is the feast of the conception of the Virgin Mary on December 8th.  It is a national holiday in Italia and also the official beginning of the Feste Natalizie.  Italiani usually put up l’albero di Natale (the Christmas tree) and il Presepio (the Nativity scene) on this day.

San Francesco d’Assisi created the first Presepio in 1223 in a cave in Greccio.  He had been to the birthplace of Gesù (Jesus) in Bethlehem and was inspired to recreate the scene.  This was his attempt to return the emphasis of Christmas on the birth of Christ rather than gift-giving.  I find it interesting that the ‘commercialization’ of Christmas is not a new concept at all.  Searching for ‘the true meaning of Christmas’ did not start with Charlie Brown but in the 13th Century!

San Francesco’s was a ‘Presepio Vivente’, with real people and animals.  The live figures were eventually replaced by statues, and Presepi also started to be set up in homes.  The Presepio includes the Holy Family-although Bambino Gesù is not placed in the manger until after midnight Christmas Eve-angels, shepherds, animals, and the Re Magi (3 Wise Men).  The 3 Wise Men are at a distance, since they arrive on January 6th.  I also have my Befana figurine trailing behind them!  Several hundred years ago, Presepi also started to include scenes from village life.  Of course before Google Earth, Wikipedia, or even photography, no one actually knew what 1st Century Bethlehem looked like, so the village scenes resembled the local areas.  The tradition of the Presepio is popular throughout Italia, with most families having one. My Mamma gets very detailed and creative with her Presepio, even baking tiny bread, pizze and Panini.

Particolari del Presepio di Mamma-Details of Mamma's Presepio

Particolari del Presepio di Mamma-Details of Mamma’s Presepio

Via San Gregorio Armeno in Napoli is lined with artigiani (artisans) making presepio figurines and accessories all year round. The attention to detail is incredible! I must go and get myself a zampognaro (zam·poh·NYAH·roh) for my presepio.  This is a traditional Abruzzese bagpiping shepherd! The 2 photos below of San Gregorio Armeno artigiani were taken by my amica Anna.

san gregorio armeno 2san gregorio armeno 1

Many villages, including Orsara di Puglia, have a Presepe Vivente in December.  Like the original one, this features the live Nativity and also artisans in traditional costume working on trades and making traditional local dishes. I’d love to hear what you have in your Presepio!

Gloria2

A tutti i miei cari lettori, vi auguro un Buonissimo Natale, Cristina

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow 'un po' di pepe' and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 422 other followers

Follow Un po' di pepe on WordPress.com

Popular Posts

  • Percorso della Memoria
    Percorso della Memoria
  • Ravioli Rossi
    Ravioli Rossi
  • Italiano per Ristoranti~How to pronounce your restaurant menu
    Italiano per Ristoranti~How to pronounce your restaurant menu
  • ‘Il Gigante’- Michelangelo's David
    ‘Il Gigante’- Michelangelo's David
  • Grano Arso
    Grano Arso
  • La Trinità di Masaccio
    La Trinità di Masaccio
  • Fiori di Zucca
    Fiori di Zucca

Recent Posts

  • Percorso della Memoria
  • Ravioli Rossi
  • 700 Years of Dante
  • Buon Anno 2021
  • Reflecting on 2020
  • Panforte di Siena
  • Museo Faggiano
  • World Pasta Day
  • MOSE
  • Lecce
  • Writing about Italian Canadian Food Culture
  • Limoncello
  • L’ultimo Caravaggio
  • Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinaci
  • Lucca
  • Viaggio con Isabella
  • Street Art for International Nurses Day
  • Cinquecento Love
  • La Festa della Liberazione
  • Corzetti
  • In my Kitchen~Quarantine edition
  • Quarantine Selfie Collage
  • COVID19-Insieme ce la faremo
  • COVID19-Andrà tutto bene
  • Napoli Street Art

Categories

Amici e Famiglia Architecture Art Art history Art projects Bilingual posts Blogging Canada Culture Feste Firenze Inspiration Italia Italian Folklore Italian language Italian life Italocanadesi Libri Mangiamo! Orsara di Puglia Parole piacevoli Photography Puglia Recipes Roma Travel Travel tips Vino

Un po' di pepe on Instagram

Viva l’amore. I hope everyone had a wonderful day with their loved ones-in person or virtually❤️ #valentinesday #amore #raviolirossi #ravioliinpentola #buttalapasta #valentinecooking #beetpastadough #sanvalentino #unpodipepe
As requested-new blog post with directions for making ravioli rossi a forma di cuore, ❤️shaped red ravioli! #ravioli #beetpastadough #ravioliaformadicuore #heartravioli #valentinescooking #pastafattaamano #italiancuisine #unpodipepe
Playing with beet pasta dough and ❤️ cookie cutters with my nipotine today @isabelladecotiis We adapted my ravioli con ricotta e spinaci recipe -added puréed roasted beet and left out the spinach in the filling. Felt like we were playing with Play-doh! #ravioli #raviolirossi #raviolipersanvalentino #raviolidiricotta #valentinesdaymenu #pastafattaamano #handmadepasta #heartpasta #fbcigers #italianfood #unpodipepe
You know you are missing Italia and obsessed with food when your bath bomb looks like caciocavallo 🤪#bathbombs #caciocavallo #italianfood #lushbathbomb #imisstravelling #italiamimanchi #unpodipepe
2021 is the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri. New post ‘700 years of Dante’ up on the blog #dante #dantealighieri #700yearsofdante #ladivinacommedia #sommapoeta #firenze #divinecomedy #deathofdante #igersfirenze #unpodipepe
Ravioli di ricotta e spinaci. Making pasta by hand is so meditative-and yummy too 😋. Recipe in blog archives #raviolidiricottaespinaci #ravioli #pastafattaincasa #pastafattaamano #ricottaandspinachravioli #italiancuisine #ciboitaliano #fbcigers #unpodipepe
Today is Giornata del dialetto e della lingua locale-Dialect and local language day. I don’t know who decides these things 🤷‍♀️ but I love this bus in #Orsaradipuglia It says ‘Livt dà nanz’ which means ‘get out of the way’ in dialetto Orsarese and also in #napoletano. It is what we would all love to say to COVID too! #dialetto #dialettonapoletano #dialettopugliese #weareinpuglia #linguelocale #livtdananz #busslogans #montidauno #giornatadeldialetto #unpodipepe
No caption required @laughingbeancoffee #covidliving #pandemiclife #happynewyear2021 #mannaggia #vancouver #vancouvercoffee #leapiffaith #unpodipepe
Snow problems. How to locate the fire hydrant in the snow ❄️ #whistler #snowproblems #whistlerbc #firehydrant #firesafety #britishcolumbia #beautifulbritishcolumbia #unpodipepe

Archives

Un po’ di pepe on Facebook

Un po’ di pepe on Facebook

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: