Nativity scene
Italian name: Presepe di Mirko Grimandi a San Gabriele di Baricella
A large mechanized nativity scene measuring eight by three meters, created by Mirko Grimandi in the ancient oratory of Corniolo at San Gabriele di Baricella, featuring moving statues and references to the Bologna countryside.
Dates are those announced by the organisers and may change: always check the official site of the event before you leave.
From the airport, the station or your hotel: a driver takes you to the entrance and picks you up at the end. Fixed price, book online in two minutes.
Book your transferService by Romagna Transfer. Their site opens.
Artistic nativity scene
The nativity scene measures about 8 x 3 metres and is created by Mirko Grimandi. It features various references to the Bologna area and invites you to rediscover old traditions. It is located inside a small 16th-century country oratory.
The edition number is not published: it is held every year at Christmas.
Oratorio della B.V. Maria Assunta in Corniolo
Via Savena Vecchia, 40052 Baricella (BO)
It is located in the hamlet of San Gabriele, about 4 km from the centre of Baricella, in the oratory of Santa Maria del Corniolo (Beata Vergine Maria Assunta in Corniolo), in the open countryside. The oratory is open every day from 6am to 10pm.
No car, or late in the evening after your visit: a driver takes you right to the nativity scene and back to your hotel.
Book your transferInformation gathered from public sources (parishes, local associations, town halls, local press) about the last edition: check dates and hours on the official site before you set off.
The Presepe di Mirko Grimandi is a large artistic and mechanised nativity display, created every year in the hamlet of San Gabriele, in the municipality of Baricella, in the province of Bologna. It is housed in the Oratorio della Beata Vergine Maria Assunta in Corniolo, a small religious building of sixteenth-century origin which during the festive season is transformed into a large stage set populated by statues, landscapes and moving figures. It is among the nativity scenes featured in the Bologna area during the Christmas period.
What distinguishes this nativity scene is first and foremost the scale of the work: the stage set occupies a space of approximately eight metres by three, a considerable size for a display inside a small country oratory. The whole is animated by numerous mechanisms that move figures and elements of the scene, following the tradition of the mechanical nativity scene, and the references concern not only the Nativity in the strict sense but also the Bologna countryside, with settings that evoke the rural landscape and customs of the plain around Bologna. Making the visit even more evocative is the setting that houses it: the oratory of Corniolo preserves frescoes and decorations from the sixteenth century, including an altarpiece of the Assumption for which an intervention by the Bolognese painter Amico Aspertini has been suggested, so that Grimandi's contemporary work sits alongside a small treasure chest of ancient sacred art.
The nativity scene is conceived and created by Mirko Grimandi, whose passion for this type of display took shape precisely in the space of the oratory of Corniolo. Available sources do not document precisely the year in which the work was born nor the stages of its evolution over the years: it is known that it is presented season after season, but a documented history of the origins of the project cannot be found in the sources consulted. Older and more certain, however, is the history of the building that houses it: the oratory, dedicated to the Beata Vergine Maria Assunta, was built in 1530 at the behest of the Felicini family as an independent church, now reduced to the role of an oratory dependent on the parish of San Gabriele.
Entering the oratory, one is faced with a large setting that recreates, with statues and stage sets, the episodes of the Nativity set in a context that recalls the landscape and rural life of the Bologna countryside. Thanks to the movement mechanisms, some figures and some elements of the landscape do not remain still but come to life, recreating small scenes of daily life around the Nativity grotto. Around the display, the walls of the oratory itself provide a precious frame, with traces of sixteenth-century frescoes and the altarpiece of the Assumption that bear witness to the ancient religious function of the building.
The nativity scene is set up every year during the Christmas period, remaining visible from the beginning of December until the first days of January. In the most recent documented edition, opening ran from 8 December 2025 to 1 January 2026, with the nativity scene visible every day from 6am to 10pm; for the current year it is advisable to check the updated dates with the parish or local information channels, as the exact period may vary from year to year. Being a display inside a place of worship, the visit does not normally require booking; the sources consulted do not indicate an admission price or a specific offering linked to visiting the nativity scene.
The photos belong to their respective owners or to whoever holds the rights, and are published under the licence shown below each image.
