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THE LIVING CRIB |
  
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| Every year, the Living Crib is enacted in the Gothic crypt of the church at Guardialfiera, following an old tradition that has stood the test of time.
The old part of the town, Piedicastello, is transformed as though by magic into old Bethlehem, and the little streets in the town, the lanes, the old houses, the craftsmen's workshops, host characters who were commonly found in the past, but who have now almost completely disappeared. Visitors can meet in the inns, meet the guards, observe the goldsmith, the weaver and the baker at work, even admire the odalisks dancing in the harem. There are about thirty scenes and over three hundred characters; the whole town takes part in one way or another in the holy representation of the Nativity in a climate of great mystic involvement. The Living Crib at Guardialfiera is celebrated on the feast days in the period from Christmas Eve to the Epiphany.
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