A lagoon in St. Peter’s Square? Vatican manger will make an impact

A small island town in northern Italy has gone all out to recreate a local lagoon in a nativity scene for St. Peter’s Square: it is the first time the nativity scene will feature a large body of water.

“There is not only the work behind it, but there is also the love, there is the passion of everyone,” Andrea de Walderstein, architect, designer and construction director of the Nativity, told CNA – the English agency of EWTN News.

“We are the first to bring water to St. Peter’s (Square),” he said, explaining that the grandiose nativity scene will take place in the lagoon of Grado, a city of about 8,000 inhabitants located on an adjacent island and peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. between Venice and Trieste.

De Walderstein said the ambitious exhibit, which will be nearly 30 meters long and more than 14 meters wide, is being put together “pretty much like Lego.” The “lagoon” embankment alone requires 102 polystyrene bricks.

Without revealing all the surprises, De Walderstein and Antonio Boemo, coordinator and leader of the project, told CNA that the replica of the lagoon will be set in the early 20th century and will have a beach, islands, boats, animals and representatives of the inhabitants of the town.

In the scene, which will be inaugurated on December 7, the “casoneri”, the fishermen who lived in cabins on the islands of the Grado lagoon. According to information from the Vatican, the fishermen only came to the town during three important holidays a year, including Easter and Christmas.

The traditional Christmas figures of Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus will be inside one of the fishermen’s cabins, called “casone“.

“What interests us is that people admire, feel curious and understand the sensations we have when we go to the lagoon,” said Boemo.

But bringing a large body of water to St. Peter’s Square posed a major challenge: how to prevent Rome’s seagulls from turning it into a giant birdbath.

This was a major concern for the Vatican, De Walderstein said. “So we came up with a system with ultrasonic machines to keep them away.”

Boemo’s idea for a nativity scene with the Grado lagoon came to him years ago. He told CNA that a proposal was sent to the Vatican in 2016 and he is very happy to finally see his dream come true.

He highlighted that this project has involved the entire Grado community, with 40 people physically involved in the construction and approximately 500 from the town are expected to attend the inauguration.

Architect De Walderstein also said that although he was originally hired just to design the project, he will also “do the labor, because I really like to touch it with my own hands and build it with my own hands.”

“I have to thank Antonio, who has involved me in this adventure. “I am very happy,” he said.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.