Wherever Christmas is celebrated, the CRIB forms part of the country’s tradition and our little island is no exception.

As early as the month of October, statuettes, popularly known in Malta as ‘pasturi’, are put up for sale in shops.  The word ‘pastur’ is derived from the Italian ‘PASTORE’ which means shepherd.  It is commonly known that shepherds were the first persons to rush to the manger where Baby Jesus was born in Betlehem.

The idea of crib building originated in Italy where St Francis of Assisi re-enacted the Birth of Christ in the year 1223. From here it spread all over Europe and eventually the World, each country adapting the crib to its own traditions, trades and style of costumes.

Crib building in Malta is said to have started in the first half of the seventeenth century, and although no documentation could be found to prove it, it is known that a crib used to be erected every Christmas at the Domenican Conventuals Church in Rabat as early as 1617. In St Peters Monastery in Mdina, one can still find a crib dating back to 1826. This crib is attributed to the works of Fra Benedetto Papale, a Sicilian monk who lived in Malta around that time.  It is treasured by the Benedictine Sisters who live in the monastery.  Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, a certain Antonio Muscat Fenech from Qormi, built a mechanical crib which he opened for public viewing in his garage.  Water dripping on fins attached to wheels used to turn wooden shafts which in turn,  activated the movements of the statuettes in the crib. Due to the visiting crowds, the crib was kept open until February. The building of cribs in Malta was influenced mainly by the Neapolitan style which was quite popular in Europe till the end of the last century.  The idea of having a Christmas crib at home was introduced in Malta by local noblemen who could afford to buy the ‘expensive’ statuettes at the time.  The style did not represent much of a ‘Holy Night’ for the Maltese and therefore was not readily welcomed.  It is said that, as a protest, most of these cribs were burnt in winter fire in times of poverty.

The Sicilian style of crib, was introduced in Malta by a Franciscan friar from Sicily, Benedetto Papale, who is known to have lived in Malta for some time during the second half of the nineteenth century. One of his cribs can still be seen in Modica, Sicily. This style was more acceptable to the Maltese, perhaps due to the likeness between the Maltese and Sicilian countryside depicted in the cribs.  Even so, the Maltese crib followed local traditions with regards to trades, costumes, musical instruments and buildings which formed the crib.  The Maltese farmhouse and flour windmill still feature prominently in locally built cribs.

The building of cribs in Malta flourished during the nineteenth and first part of the twentieth centuries.  The media most commonly used were rustic stone, very abundant in Maltese countryside, and coal residue, commonly known as ‘gagazza’. 

The latter was generally acquired from blacksmiths.  These two media, patiently built, formed the desired basic shape of the crib.  After Christmas they could be dismantled and stored away for the following year.

The introduction of modern fuels in furnaces did away with coal and therefore the supply of ‘gagazza’ became very remote, while the use of stone was rather cumbersome.  So crib enthusiasts turned to another medium, papier mache.  This made cribs more solid and lightweight; however it presented a problem of storage.  For this reason, cribs were very often destroyed after Christmas

Another interesting aspect of the Crib is the evolution of the statuettes or ‘pasturi’.  The first artistic figurines were rather expensive and therefore beyond the ordinary man’s reach. So he devised his own method of making ‘pasturi’.  Using earth clay, he shaped what looked like very rugged figures.  Paint helped to define the face, hands and clothes.

Towards the middle of the 20^th Century, and particularly after the end of World War II, new customs and traditions were brought into Malta from abroad. Local traditions and folklore were pushed aside.  Both in Malta and abroad, the Crib became just another Christmas decoration and due to the work required in its building, it lost its popularity to make way for the Christmas tree and other easy to mount decorations. The mass production of plastic figurines, dressed in contemporary clothes and painted in bright styles, which looked more like miniature dolls or puppets, lacked the prestige of the individually made 'pastur' and helped to deteriorate the tradition even more.

In  the year 1907,  the Society for Religious Doctrine, known as  M.U.S.E.U.M., was set up.  Urged by its motto, ‘VERBUM DEI CARO FACTUM EST’, which means: ‘The Word of God was made Man’,  this Society, under the leadership of its founder, Saint George Preca, made it its task to re-kindle the love for the real Christmas.  Each December, children were given a replica of Baby Jesus or a small crib as a gift.  Another initiative of this Society was the holding of a procession on Christmas Eve during which a life-size replica of Baby Jesus was carried by members of the society while religious Christmas carols were sung.  The first of these processions was held in 1921.  Such processions still form part of the Christmas Eve scene in Malta’s towns and villages.

The crib building tradition in Malta was also kept alive by a few enthusiasts who built sizeable cribs and exhibited them to the public.  It was thanks to these persons that the custom of crib building in Malta did not vanish altogether.

In 1986, a group of Crib enthusiasts got together and formed the ‘ASSOCIATION OF THE FRIENDS OF THE CRIB ’.  The  scope of the group was specific: to keep the crib tradition in Malta alive.   

During the years that followed, the Association managed to re-kindle the love for the Crib and to attract no less than three hundred active members.  During the year, even when Christmas is still ‘far away’, members of the Association get together to discuss various aspects of the crib, listen to lectures about the history of the crib in Malta and abroad and also watch demonstrations on crib building given by the older members of the Association.  Various techniques, materials and styles are shown and discussed.  Practical sessions, where members start building their, perhaps, first crib, are organized and heavily attended especially by new members. 

Every year, during the weeks preceding Christmas, the Friends of the Crib hold an exhibition of works by their members.  About one hundred cribs of various shapes and sizes made from different media such as  papier mache, polystyrene, cork, etc., are put together to offer visitors, locals and tourists alike, the true story of Christmas, THE BIRTH OF BABY JESUS. 

While thanking you for visiting our site, we hope to welcome you to our show in Valletta, Malta during a future Christmas Season.

In the meantime we invite you to enjoy
  our gallery of cribs by clicking the
small book on the left.