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Die offizielle Tourismus-Website der Gemeinde und Metropole Florenz
Die offizielle Tourismus-Website der Gemeinde und Metropole Florenz
Die offizielle Tourismus-Website der Gemeinde und Metropole Florenz
Die offizielle Tourismus-Website der Gemeinde und Metropole Florenz
Die offizielle Tourismus-Website der Gemeinde und Metropole Florenz
Die offizielle Tourismus-Website der Gemeinde und Metropole Florenz
On the occasion of the Christmas holidays the Parish Community of Santa Brigida, under the patronage of the Municipality of Pontassieve, organises the traditional Living Nativity scene, taking place on Christmas Eve first and then with two further performances on Boxing Day and the day of the Epiphany too.
The event is outdoors, downstream of the parish church in a sort of natural amphitheatre with ups and downs of land surrounded by greenery, where both the village of Bethlehem and the hut where Jesus will be born get recreated. Every year it involves several extras, moving in a very evocative setting, with lighting effects, costumes and music. There are also colourful touches such as the ox and the donkey, as well as sheep and lambs which join the shepherds on their journey to baby Jesus. All of this accompanied by traditional music and a voice-over, inspired by the Gospel of Luke.
Performed for the first time in 1984, today the Living Nativity scene of Santa Brigida is a major event, of great interest to the local community and to the whole Valdisieve area too.
The Saint Brigid Church features a simple two-sloping facade with a single gate and a window on top. The church rises, according to tradition, on the cave where Saint Brigid retired to hermitage around the 10th century. The bulding was reworked in the 16th century and, starting from 1686, was enlarged towards the front. A new neo-Romanesque style extension was carried out, in the apse, in 1938. After World War II, in 1953, it was refurbished and renovated under the guidance of the architect Guido Morozzi
Under the Church lies the Saint Brigid cave.Brigid - hailing from Ireland - reached this area to be near her brother Andrew, who was at the time Archdeacon of the bishop of Fiesole. She retired to hermit life in this cave right after her brother's death. Here she lead a mystic life for many years, feeding herself only with herbs and roots. The cave where the Saint lived, according to tradition, would be the one that lies under the current church.