Museum of Nativity Scenes, Orihuela

On the outskirts of the city, at the end of the Avenida Constitution on the Plaza de San Francisco, there is a monastery, mistakenly called by the same name in the guidebooks. In fact, the monastery is named after St. Anna (Convento de Santa Ana), and it was founded in 1594 by the Franciscan Order, which gave rise to the confusion. In one of the rooms of the monastery there is a museum of Nativity scenes (Museo de los Belenes), created in the mid-90s of the last century on the initiative of the Association of Manufacturers of Christmas scenes. Local craftsmen are mainly represented here, but you can see nativity scenes from other regions of Spain, and there is even a nativity scene by a Japanese master. Miniature sculptural compositions dedicated to the birth of Christ appeared in the rich houses of France and Italy in the XV century, then these decorations became available to ordinary people. Spain owes the restoration of the nativity scenes to King Charles III, who made a lot of efforts to introduce the people of a backward country to culture at that time. In 1760, he ordered a luxurious nativity scene of almost six thousand objects and figures from Italian craftsmen. The king ordered the composition to be put up for free access in the Buen Retiro Palace and also issued a decree ordering the installation of Nativity scenes in all churches.

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