In the Christian religion, a nativity scene, or crèche, is the depiction Jesus’ birth in a cave of Nazareth as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The first crèches were settled in the churches in the 16th century. However, in the 3rd century the Christians already venerated a crèche in a cave of Bethlehem considered as the place of birth of Jesus. During French revolution (1789-1799) religious images or sceneries were banned. The crèches progressively settled in individual houses. The characters are made of glass, chinaware, wax or sculpted wood. At this period the commerce of small characters increased. Daily local life was now represented in the sceneries, adapting the characters to the local regions. In the 19th century, the handcraft characters made in Provence, a south region of France, become very successful and are exported to all parts of France. The tradition of crèches expanded worldwide and we can also see beautiful African or Asiatic crèches. In South America we count as many crèches as they are villages.

Normally the crèche should be settled the first Sunday of the Advent or for Saint Nicolas or the last Sunday before Christmas. It is possible to see many crèches in Lyon, on the Christmas markets or in Churches. A major crèche is settled in the Orthodox Church of Saint Just. The crèche is 250m2 large and has more than 300 characters called « Santons » and around 30 automates sculpted by the best craftsmen of Provence.

To get more information on the crèches in Lyon

To get further information, you can connect to the website of the French school Inflexyon and to the forum of the French courses.

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