From Thursday, December 22 to Tuesday, December 27, 2005, Vieux Nice revisits the Christmas traditions of the County and stages Lou Presèpi, the Niçoise Living Nativity, which is one of the most beautiful and oldest customs of the Nice region.
The Nativity, or Lou Presèpi, consists of 20 live figurines (12 adults and 8 children), as well as animals brought directly from a farm in Tende. Each day, the figurines will perform a Christmas story.
The schedule for the events is as follows:
Thursday, December 22 to Tuesday, December 27, 2005
– 10 AM to 5 PM: The Living Nativity with figurines and animals, musical ambiance
– 5 PM to 8 PM: The Living Nativity with figurines and animals, the Paroplapi polyphonic group (the most beautiful Occitan and Italian Christmas songs), the duo Li Rui (hurdy-gurdies from Piedmont), Evelyne Nabet singing and hosting
Saturday, December 24, 2005
– 5 PM to 8 PM: The Living Nativity with figurines and animals, the Paroplapi polyphonic group, the duo Li Rui, Evelyne Nabet singing and hosting
– 10:30 PM: Christmas Eve vigil in the nativity scene and nativity mass at the Sainte Réparate Cathedral
Free concerts at the Sainte Réparate Cathedral
– Sunday, December 25 at 4 PM: Paroplapi at the Sainte Réparate Cathedral
Lou Presèpi is a Niçoise particularity, just like the term Calèna, which denotes Christmas and whose root comes from the Latin word kalenda or calends, meaning the first day of the month in the Roman calendar.
It is known that the nativity scene was invented in the 13th century by Saint Francis of Assisi and that it subsequently spread throughout Europe. The Provençal tradition of santons is also well known.
The Niçoise nativity scene or Presèpi, which stood all year in homes, resembles the original nativity, which consists of the Baby Jesus, Joseph, Mary, the ox, and the donkey.
Here are images from the gallery of the event:
[Image of Lou Presèpi]
[Image of Presèpi at a different angle]
