Press Release of the Governorate of Vatican City State – Christmas 2024

Vatican City, 24 September 2024

This year, Grado, an important lagoon centre, rich in history and traditions, in the province of Gorizia, has offered the Nativity scene which will be set up in Saint Peter’s Square on the occasion of the Christmas festivities.

The majestic red fir tree, 29 metres high, that will be raised alongside the reproduction of the Nativity, is instead from Ledro, in the province of Trento.

In the morning of Saturday 7 December, there will be the audience with Pope Francis, while the traditional inauguration and illumination of the great Nativity and the Christmas tree will take place in Saint Peter’s Square at 17.00. The ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, in the presence of Sister Raffaella Petrini, secretary general of the same Governorate.

The Nativity display from Grado is set in the great living lagoon, rich in over one hundred mote or small islets, which extends next to the island, with the Nativity which finds space within for a casóne, the characteristic reed construction inhabited by fishermen.

The setting that has been chosen is that of the first years of the last century, when several hundred Gradesi still lived in the lagoon. The environment proposed which will be rich in many details, including indigenous vegetation and local bird life.

In the Nativity display the environment is artificially reproduced through the positioning of a mota with the casóne, produced using wooden elements, covered with marsh reeds and protected by long lagoon banks, the latter modelled by hand, piece by piece, by the volunteers themselves.

It is the nativity scene of the Community of Grado, since it is made entirely by about forty volunteers, all professionals, artisans such as casóni (hut-makers), pontoon-makers, shipwrights for the creation of batele, typical flat-bottomed boats, fishermen for the creation of fishing nets and, of course, artists for the creation of the statues, mostly belonging to various local associations led by the Portatori della Madonna di Barbana, the bearers of Our Lady of Barbana.

This is an important initiative that in a way crowns the experience gained some 25 years ago with the organization on the island of Grado, in the little streets of the old town centre, next to the patriarchal basilicas and the port, of one of Friuli Venezia Giulia's most important exhibitions of Nativity scenes, where the large cribs made by local associations are displayed.

Everything started, as always, from a dream of one person, the knight officer Antonio Boemo, who embarked on the road several years ago and coordinated the entire initiative, who was immediately joined by the architect Andrea de Waderstein and the two artists who created the numerous statues, father and daughter Lorenzo and Francesca Boemo. Then the associations with, first of all, the Portatori della Madonna di Barbana led by Adelchi Quargnali, and then the other associations: Civil Defence, Graisani de Palù, Blood Donors, Grado Voga, Grado Noi, Lega Navale, and ANMI Sailors, to complete a squadron that worked for long hours, even outdoors under the scorching sun.

Naturally, in order to complete the initiative, which entailed not inconsiderable costs for the procurement of materials, it was immediately supported by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and the Municipality of Grado, obviously in addition to the patronage of the Diocese of Gorizia and the active collaboration of Grado's archpriestly parish.

Finally, it should be pointed out that within the setting there are also a number of briccole that indicate navigable canals and show the direction to reach places close to the city of Grado such as Aquileia, Trieste and Venice, or to visit the Marian Sanctuary of the Crowned Virgin of Barbana dating back to the year 582, located on a small island in the middle of the Grado lagoon itself.

Regarding the choice of the red fir tree from Ledro, a small municipality of about 5,000 inhabitants, in Trentino Alto-Adige, the forest custodian service complied with the requests of the Garden and Environment Service of the Governorate of Vatican City State, i.e. that it be placed in a reachable spot and well covered with branches. The selection was made with respect to sustainability, thus identifying more mature trees, whose removal represents a natural replacement.

The municipality of Ledro consists of fifteen hamlets: Pieve di Ledro (seat of the town hall), Bezzecca, Concei, Molina di Ledro, Tiarno di Sopra, Tiarno di Sotto, Lenzumo, Mezzolago, Pré di Ledro, Biacesa, Barcesino, Enguiso, Legos, Locca and Pur.

The lake of the same name is known as one of the clearest in Trentino. The valley, with its villages and mountains, is located a short distance from Lake Garda. It is certainly a small municipality in terms of number of inhabitants, but boasts a UNESCO site in its territory. In fact, Ledro became famous in the autumn of 1929, after the discovery of some 10,000 pile dwellings dating back to the Bronze Age on the eastern shore of the lake, near Molina. The discovery was made possible by the lowering of the lake level due to work on the hydroelectric power station under construction in Riva del Garda. In the seventies, the Lake Ledro Pile Dwelling Museum was set up here, the territorial seat of the Museum of Science (Muse). It is a museum complex illustrating daily life in the Bronze Age, with reconstructions and original remains of the pile dwelling village (2,200-1350 BC). In 2011, the site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In addition to the fir tree chosen for the Square, other smaller trees will also be brought to the Vatican, decorated by associations and citizens of Ledro, Alto Garda and the twinned towns, namely a German locality and eight municipalities from the Czech Republic. These decorated trees will be displayed in offices and buildings of the Holy See.

The tree and the Nativity scene will remain on display until the conclusion of Christmastime, which coincides with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Sunday 12 January 2025.