A WALK THROUGH CRIBS AND FANTASTIC TREES

A Christmas tree or a crib? You don't always have to choose.

The historic center of Lucca is the location for displays and installations for everyone and we invite you to a walk through innovation and tradition in Lucca's Magical Christmas.

Nativity scenes, an ancient tradition and the essence of Christmas, find various expressions this year.

The dressed crib of Santa Maria Nera is an unmissable destination. The large plaster and straw, papier-mâché and bisque statues with statues from the 1600s form a refined set of characters with silk robes in the tradition of the Lucca's manufactures of the time.
In the same church, as a homage to the tradition of cribs, the exhibition of transportable nativity scenes takes place every year, small artifacts in line with tradition. And for the occasion don't miss a visit to the church, one of the most beautiful examples of Baroque architecture in Lucca and, in the room where the portable nativity scenes are displayed, you might find Maestro Elio Antichi who will surely play a song at the seventeenth century organ.

On Christmas day, precious frontals from past eras are displayed in the church, the most beautiful and precious one adorns the high altar and is made up of thousands of small coral beads embroidered on velvet.

Under Palazzo Pretorio a nativity scene of the Confraternita dei Legnaioli is set up this year. A central scene and other smaller ones accompany it. An installation of about four meters by four that rises in height, with a very detailed perspective scenography that deserves a stop. The scenic realization, the music and the lights are made by the professor of Art Adolfo Lorenzetti and the confreres participated in the realization in preparing the supporting structure.

At Palazzo Ducale, in the spaces of the Armeries, an exhibition about memory and remembrance. AUGURI DA NOI CHE SIAM LONTANI is
dedicated to the artisan tradition of Lucca's plaster nativity scenes made from 1800 to the present day and its close link with the emigration topic. Small plaster nativity scenes that made the inhabitants of Lucca famous in America for their particular vocation in the creation of sacred plaster scenes. A selection of letters and greeting cards from all over the world accompanies the traditional figurines in Christmas holiday atmosphere full of nostalgia for home and family.
 

A very special nativity scene is set up in the basement of the bastion of San Martino, the work of the Art designer Francesco Zavattari.
BALUARDO DI NEVE E DI STELLE is the name for this nativity scene which you can see when entering from via Buiamonti or from outside the city walls. The amazing delicate starry sky against the background of the rustic walls leads visitors to the center of the bulwark, once a military architecture, where today the peaceful scene of the Nativity is placed. 

Christmas trees, a more recent tradition and symbol of the end-of-year celebrations.

There are five trees in the city squares, each with its own particular characteristic.

Let's start with the traditional fir tree with lights and red balls. We find it in Piazza San Francesco, it is the solidarity fir tree with the background of the church where many concerts of the end of the year are organised.

Not far away, near Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, another tree dedicated to a very current theme is made with recycled plastic bottles. An invitation to raise awareness for the environment issue also during the feast days.
It is the Re-Cycling Xmas Tree designed by the group of architects GAA/Architecture.
The recovery material which it is made from, creates a great result! Cheerful and bright balls of every color decorate this stylized tree reflecting all the lights around. A testimony to the fact that happiness and light can also come from waste.
An essential metal structure whose decorations are made with recycled plastic bottles and LED lighting with an on-timer to guarantee energy savings, to give new life to waste objects and make a reflection on sustainability issues.

Continuing along via Fillungo, at Piazza Guidiccioni, another contemporary tree: LUCENSE AD ASTRA, the Christmas tree designed by Francesco Zavattari.

Traditional but different, the Christmas tree in Piazza San Michele, is a 10-metre high cone with essential shapes and symbols: the green of the fir tree and thousands of lights that come on at sunset to illuminate the whole square and the church of San Michele. A selfie between the tree and the warm lights of the shops really makes you feel christmassy!
Paired with the tree, a great golden comet star on the other corner of the square. A scenographic and shimmering whole that illuminates the historic square of Lucca.
In Piazza San Giovanni, not just a tree, but an entire Christmas forest called NATALE NEL BOSCO is a light installation by the designer Emiliana Martinelli, born in Lucca and an icon, together with her father, of Italian design. For this magical Christmas she offers Lucca an entire forest made with illuminated profiles of fir trees where to get lost and fantasize.

And not far from here, in Piazza San Martino, a homage by another local from Lucca, also if an adopted citizen, at Lucca's Magical Christmas.
5 meters for BARK FOR CHRISTMAS, a large red and shiny gold Christmas tree made of Alucobond, a stratified material, cut with numerical control with decorations specially made for the occasion in one-of-a-kind pieces.