World’s ‘largest living Nativity scene’ opens in Colombia

By Eduardo Berdejo

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 9, 2023 / 08:00 am

Since Dec. 2, the faithful in Barranquilla, Colombia, have been able to visit the staging of “the largest Nativity scene in the world” where 90 actors interpret the moments before and after the birth of Jesus.

The Nativity scene is set up on an 18,000-square-meter park (about 4.5 acres) that in previous years has been installed in other Colombian cities such as Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali. The initiative began in 2010, promoted by Colombian Fabián Rojas, manager of Nativity World, the company in charge of the tours billed “the largest Nativity scene in the world.”

The company’s website notes it has been recognized four times by Guinness World Records: for being “the largest Nativity scene in the world” and for the “greatest number of figures in a Nativity scene” (Colombia 2010-2011), as well as for the “greatest number of good wishes” written by attendees on a “wailing wall” and the “greatest number of human replicas that move in a Nativity scene” (Mexico 2011-2012).

Nativity World invites families to visit and “recapture the essence of Christmas in a place that gives us the opportunity to travel back in time, to experience a different Christmas for adults and children, interacting in an extraordinary way on the birthday of the baby Jesus, on a life-size scale, in this new century.”

To accomplish this, structures have been built that represent places such as St. Joseph’s carpenter shop, King Herod’s palace, and the manger where Christ was born, among other scenes.

This allows visitors to appreciate biblical passages such as the annunciation of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, Herod’s actions, the birth of Jesus, and the visit of the three Wise Men. Beginning Dec. 16, the traditional Christmas novena will be prayed with those attending.

“The largest Nativity scene in the world” will be in Barranquilla until Jan. 8.

This story was first publishedby ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Eduardo Berdejo has a Journalism degree from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Peru). He has been a member of the ACI Prensa team since 2001. He has covered Pope Francis' visits to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. He also holds a diploma in Comparative Literature from the University of Piura (Peru) and has completed the Comprehensive Course on Style Correction at the Lima Publishing School (Peru).