The Nativity in the Mangiapane Cave

In Custonaci there is a living nativity scene recreated in an ancient village built in a cave

A settlement dating back to the Paleolithic, transformed into a small village by a family of farmers and now home to a Nativity… Among  the most fascinating living nativity scenes in Sicily is the one  in Custonaci, in the province of Trapani, which takes place inside the Mangiapane Cave.

The cave, located at an altitude of about 60 meters above sea level, is located in Scurati and is about 70 meters high and more than 50 meters deep. The engravings inside indicate that it was inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic (between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago). The current name comes from the family of farmers and fishermen who lived inside the cave between the end of the 1800s and 1950s, building a real rural village. After years of abandonment, the village was restored by the inhabitants of the town together with the only living heir of the Mangiapane family. The restoration has brought the village back to the state it was in more than a century ago, so much so that it has been transformed into an open-air museum that can be visited all year round, managed by the Associazione Culturale Museo Vivente of Custonaci. Over the years, the cave has hosted various events, from book presentations to musical performances, also becoming a film set and the backdrop, in 2020, for the Dolce & Gabbana advertising campaign. But it is during the Christmas period that the village is transformed and comes to life, becoming one of the most important living nativity scenes in the region.

Inside and outside the Mangiapane Cave, in fact, the visitor is transported to a timeless place. The route begins outside the cave, with some houses and land where the first figures are found intent on representing the ancient professions. Among stables, chicken coops and private houses, you can see farmers at work, fishermen repairing nets, a donkey pulling the oil mill, women working on the loom or washing and drying clothes… It seems like being transported to Sicily in the late 1800s, with the visitor continuing, step by step, while tasting typical products (bread and oil, boiled potatoes, cheeses), until inside of the cave where, in a magical atmosphere lit by torches, you can admire the Nativity. The houses inside the cave host artists at work and also other ancient professions, such as shoemakers, barbers and toymakers.  There are also musicians, with accordions and bagpipes. The many animals present (donkeys, horses, chickens, goats, sheep and many others) will delight children.

This year the living nativity scene of Custonaci has reached its fortieth edition. The idea of staging the Nativity in the Grotta Mangiapane came to Don Rosario Vella, the priest of the town at the time, who wanted to celebrate Christmas mass here in 1983. The following year, the cave began to host the living nativity scene, which has grown in attendance and importance year after year, so much so that it has been included in the Register of Intangible Heritage of Sicily.

The visit to the living nativity scene is well organized. On the website www.grottamangiapane.it you can buy tickets online. To go to the cave you park your car in Custonaci and take the shuttle bus. In the village, during the Christmas period, a small Christmas market is also organized where you can also eat typical products such as pignolata with honey and sfince.

If you want to take a travel back in time while immersing yourself in the Christmas atmosphere in the most spiritual sense of the word, you absolutely must visit the living nativity scene in the Mangiapane Cave… you will discover a unique and magical place in Sicily.