The largest Christmas crib in Europe! Poznań, St. Bernardine Square

by Ludmiła Kukucka, Dagmara Juszczak, KONTAKT, Poland

Poznan, despite many renovations, continues to delight locals and non-locals alike with its attractions. Every year during the Christmas season many tourists come here to experience the traditions of our city. Christmas is a special time in everyone’s life.

The beginning of December is usually associated with Christmas markets in cities. Every year they attract crowds of people who want to spend this unusual time together, drink mulled wine, hot chocolate, buy original gifts or take their children on the carousel. In Poznan on the St. Bernardine Square you will find another attraction, about which even many Poznanians do not know. It is said to be the largest Christmas crib in Europe. Entering the beautiful historic church, we will see a huge installation at the main altar.

The stable can be admired from December 24 to all of January. It consists of about 400 figures, most of them moving. They represent religious figures, but also animals that accompanied the holy family.  For example, goats or sheep and a donkey. The stable looks really impressive. The whole church is plunged into darkness, and the stable is illuminated. The scene depicts the birth of Jesus, next to him stand Mary and Joseph, which is the largest of the figures standing there, they are at least 1.80 meters tall. The crib can be viewed all day, and during mass the installation is turned off.

It takes almost a month to build, handled by monks and volunteers. Once it is finished, it delights everyone of all ages. It’s definitely worth seeing.

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