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The hermitage sanctuary of Greccio, also known as the sanctuary of the crib, is a Franciscan sanctuary and hermitage located in the municipality of Greccio, the best known of the four sanctuaries of the Sacred Rieti Valley. Located at an altitude of about 660 m above sea level and about 15 km from Rieti, it is recessed and surrounded by rocks and holm oaks that form a kind of natural frame. It is located near the quaint medieval village of Greccio, which overlooks the Rieti basin, making it a very picturesque place with a wide and solemn panorama. The birth of the Sanctuary of Greccio is linked to a legend in which St. Francis is said to have asked a child to throw a burning cinder to the mountain. Unbelievably, the wick from the village reached the high rocks where the shrine now stands. At the time the area was owned by the feudal lord called the Velita. The latter, in 1223, invited St. Francis to bring to life a splendid re-enactment, with flesh-and-blood characters, of the birth of Jesus on Christmas night. Another legend related to this performance tells that the little baby, the only non-living character, came to life for a moment and then returned as he was before. From that moment on Greccio became the place where the world's first nativity scene was born. From historical sources the presence of St. Francis in Greccio is traced back to 1223. After the historic event of Christmas in that very year, the Saint left his mark on numerous episodes that characterized the history of these places and beyond. In 1226 he left the Rieti Valley for good, never to return.
The spiritual and physical center of the Sanctuary of Greccio is the small Chapel of the Crib, a kind of cave where according to legend there was the re-enactment of the Nativity. Under the altar table, it is possible to see the rock that, again according to tradition, housed the baby Jesus during the Christmas re-enactment desired by St. Francis.
Various depictions are visible above the altar, such as a 15th-century fresco depicting the Nativity of the Lord. The Virgin Mary is immortalized at the moment of breastfeeding the Child in the presence of St. Joseph. To the left of the altar, on the other hand, we find a fresco of the Nativity made at the initiative of Francis in Greccio. Outside the chapel are two frescoes depicting a Nativity, of the Umbro-Marchigiana school, and a portrait of St. John the Baptist, respectively. Leaving the crib chapel leads to the oldest part of the Greccio Sanctuary-Convent, where the friars' refectory, dormitory, St. Francis' cell and St. Bernardine's pulpit are located.
