Whatever your faith, or background, there’s something at the heart of the World Nativities exhibit at Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn that most people can probably relate to – family.

The religious art and history museum, once the early 20^th-century home of Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn and their children, displays dozens of three-dimensional nativity scenes collected from around the world every holiday season, writes the  Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board. 

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In this ninth exhibition of Glencairn Museum’s World Nativities, more than 40 nativity scenes will be tucked everywhere throughout the castle through January 7.

Half are from the growing Glencairn collection, the other half are on loan, and 20 come from different countries. New this year are nativities from the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Connecticut.

Often referred to as a crèche, an old French word for manger or crib, the nativity scene, also known as presepio in Italian, represents a family’s national, regional, and local culture by featuring distinctive structures, clothing, and animals.

So, for example, a zebra, or llama might be used instead of an ox or donkey at the scene. The piece may be crated from clay, wood, wool, grass, banana leaves, and even coconuts.

To read more about the displays click here.

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