Il Presepe Artistico di Anna Rosa Nicola all'Abbazia di Vezzolano
A hand-made nativity village of more than 450 figures, set up each Christmas season in the guesthouse of the Romanesque abbey of Vezzolano near Albugnano, free to visit from early December to the start of February.
Why it's special
Anna Rosa Nicola builds a whole village of the late 1800s and early 1900s on 40 square metres, with more than 100 workshops and market stalls, almost entirely from recycled materials: ties and socks become clothes, eye-drop bottles become bottles, coffee capsules become pots. She adds new scenes every year, and visitors' offerings pay for restoration work at the abbey.
Programme · 2025
In the Foresteria of the canonry, with the Associazione La Cabalesta; staffed by volunteers of the Associazione InCollina. Free entry. Fri, Sat, Sun and holidays, 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30); Tue–Thu only for booked groups of more than ten; Thu 25 Dec 10:00–12:30 and 15:30–17:00
- Entry is always free and there's no need to book on Fridays, weekends and holidays (10:00–17:00, last entry 16:30); groups of more than ten can book Tuesday to Thursday through the Associazione La Cabalesta (info@lacabalesta.it, +39 349 5772932).
- In 2025 it also opened on Christmas Day, 10:00–12:30 and 15:30–17:00.
- The opening afternoon on 8 December has a Christmas concert, and seats go on a first-come basis.
Every Christmas the guesthouse of the abbey of Santa Maria di Vezzolano, the Romanesque canonry in the hills below Albugnano, fills with Anna Rosa Nicola's nativity scene. It is less a crib than a whole village of the late 1800s and early 1900s, laid out over 40 square metres, with more than 450 figures between 15 and 30 centimetres tall, each with its own face and gesture, and over a hundred craft workshops, market stalls and corners of daily life.
Almost everything is made by hand from things other people throw away. Ties and socks are cut into clothes, eye-drop bottles become bottles, coffee capsules turn into pots, tomato roots into trees and dried seaweed into straw. Each year she adds new scenes and details alongside the traditional nativity.
Entry is free. Offerings left by visitors go to restoration work at the abbey, presented each year at the opening on 8 December, which comes with a Christmas concert. The year's dates are above.
More events in Monferrato in December 2025 →
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Past editions
| Year | Dates | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 December 2025 – 1 February 2026 | In the Foresteria of the canonry, with the Associazione La Cabalesta; staffed by volunteers of the Associazione InCollina. Free entry. Fri, Sat, Sun and holidays, 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30); Tue–Thu only for booked groups of more than ten; Thu 25 Dec 10:00–12:30 and 15:30–17:00 Mon 8 Dec, 10:30 – Mass for the Immacolata Mon 8 Dec, 15:00 – presentation of the restorations paid for with last year's offerings Mon 8 Dec, 15:45 – Christmas concert with accordion players of all ages, the children's Orchestra ASE' of Asti (Elena Enrico) and the Fisorchestra Freluchet of the CFM Torino (Stefano Arato) Mon 8 Dec, 16:30 – visit to the nativity scene New this year – a renewed Nativity, a pastry shop, a broom maker, women making agnolotti, a seller of stale bread, a nougat stall, newlyweds leaving church and children flying a kite |
| 2023 | 8 December 2023 – 4 February 2024 | 12th edition at Vezzolano, in the large Foresteria of the abbey. Fri, Sat, Sun and holidays 10:00–17:00; Christmas Day 10:00–12:30 and 15:30–17:00. Fri 8 Dec, 15:00 – opening, with a theatre piece by actress Paola Tortora and full-size reproductions of 15th-century panels from the school of Antoine de Lonhy, restored with earlier years' offerings by the Laboratorio Nicola Restauri of Aramengo |