A Record-breaking Christmas in Italy

In the heart of the Cinque Terre, one of the most beautiful villages in Liguria every year achieves a world record with the Manarola Nativity Scene. Installed on an entire hillside with more than 17,000 lights and 300 figures made using recycled or disused materials, this Nativity Scene - listed in the Guinness Book of Records since 2007 - ensures magical amazement for visitors by narrating an ancient tradition and telling the story of the birth of Jesus. Sheep, shepherds, houses, stables, streams and comet stars animate this depiction, giving life to a unique, exciting and distinctly all-embracing spectacle.

The record-setting Nativity Scene is located in Santa Cristina, Val Gardena. Set in motion as a project involving 18 wood carvers, it is a full-scale, life-size installation. Expanded every year with the addition of new figures symbolizing the Christmas tradition, it is a must-see spectacle. Val Gardena boasts a long-standing tradition in woodworking that combines creativity and great skill. The Santa Cristina Nativity Scene is fine testimony to this. The stables are 12 metres high are home to Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the donkey, the Wise Men and the sheep entirely carved by hand for a Nativity Scene that symbolises tradition and craftsmanship.

The Christmas tree par excellence is to be found in Gubbio and it is a spectacular show of light and colour well worth seeing. This entry in the Guinness Book of Records is entirely Italian! It takes four months of work to prepare it but the result is truly amazing: 750 metres high with more than 950 lights, the Gubbio Christmas Tree dominates the city and is customarily inaugurated with a grand ceremony on 7 December. An imposing and evocative show of colours arousing a sense of wonder and amazement, a unique emotion that brings people together in the magical spirit of Christmas. Some curious facts: the lights on the tree can be adopted! If you believe in the magic of the festive season and want to donate something unique, you can adopt a decorative light!

Find out more: alberodigubbio.com

The true City of Christmas exists and is found in Castiglione del Lago! Luci sul Trasimeno (Lights on Lake Trasimene) starts off early in December and welcomes a large numbers of visitors every year for the beautiful of the decorations, events and the biggest Christmas tree in the world designed on water. Thanks to several attractions embodying every respect of the magic of the festive season, don't miss it if you are in Umbria at Christmas. Forty days of entertainment and outdoor shows, the House of Santa Claus, the ice rink, the inevitable markets, a large Ferris wheel, the monumental Nativity Scene and the magical tree drawn on the water await you for an exciting event by now an unmissable destination for people love Christmas and its traditions.

Find out more: lucisultrasimeno.it

visitcesenatico.it - The "Marineria" floating Nativity Scene

A new event destined to become a record-breaking Christmas tradition in the white city: the tallest crochet Christmas tree in Italy. At over 11 metres high and with more than 4000 colourful woollen patches woven by the expert hands of local artisans, the crochet Christmas Tree in Ostuni has a Guinness World Record future. A local tradition well worth discovering, photographing and sharing if you pass through Puglia during the Christmas holidays.