One of the world’s largest Nativity scenes lights up the hilltop town of Manarola in Italy’s famed Cinque Terre, joined this year by a statue honouring medics who battle coronavirus.

More than 150 figures depict shepherds and fishermen, sheep, camels and angels gathered around Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

Stefano Cassigoli, a member of the Associazione Presepe di Manarola, setting a Nativity scene statue on the hill of Manarola.

Lit up with eight kilometres of electricity cables, they are visible from the sea as well.

A new addition this year is a statue of a nurse with a heart next to it, a tribute to the medics working in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Italy has been hard hit by the virus, which has killed more than 65,000 people so far.

A new addition this year is a statue of a nurse with a heart next to it, a tribute to the medics working in the COVID-19 pandemic.

We need signs of hope and at least an appearance of normality

Watching the lights go on, local school teacher Elisabetta Colarusso said it was a welcome reminder of normal life.

“We need signs of hope and at least an appearance of normality,” she said.

The Nativity scene dates back to 1961, when local railway worker Mario Andreoli placed a cross onto the hill opposite the town to fulfil a wish by his dying father.
He had the idea of lighting it up with a car battery, and was delighted with the result.

He used iron bars and recycled materials to create many more figures over the years, each weighing up to 20 kilogrammes.

At first, Andreoli − now 92 − had to carry them up the steep hill himself, but now there is a whole team putting them up each Christmas.

Some of the 150 figures illuminated at night.