 St. Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 at Greccio , central Italy , in an attempt to place the emphasis of Christmas upon the worship of Christ rather than upon secular materialism and gift giving . The nativity scene created by St. Francis is described by St Bonaventure in his Life of Saint Francis of Assisi written around 1260 . Staged in a cave near Greccio , St. Francis ' nativity scene was a living one with humans and animals cast in the Biblical roles . Pope Honorius III gave his blessing to the exhibit . Such pantomimes became hugely popular and spread throughout Christendom . Within a hundred years every church in Italy was expected to have a nativity scene at Christmastime . Eventually , statues replaced human and animal participants , and static scenes grew to elaborate affairs with richly robed figurines placed in intricate landscape settings . Charles III , King of the Two Sicilies , collected such elaborate scenes , and his enthusiasm encouraged others to do the same . 
