The Governorate of the Vatican City State announced that the Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square this year will come from Terranova di Pollino, a small town in southern Italy.
The nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square will come from Alessa, a small town in Abruzzo. “With its distinctive straw roofs, the Nativity scene recalls the workplaces of farmers and the ancient traditional dwellings known as Pagliarelli or Pinciare, built from earth and straw,” according to the announcement.
The nativity scene in Paul VI Audience Hall will come from Viareggio, a seaside town in northern Italy, and have a maritime theme in which “the Magi, reinterpreted as fishermen, offer gifts connected to the sea.”