Between Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast lies a place that many pass through every day, yet few truly choose to experience to the fullest. This is the inspiration behind “A Meta Percorsi,” a cultural project launched by the Municipality of Meta to showcase the area through experiential itineraries, local traditions, and routes that highlight its unique identity.
“A Meta Percorsi” is not merely a tourism initiative, but a program designed to reveal the authentic soul of the Meta area through art, culture, craftsmanship, and collective memory. The project aims to transform a simple visit into a meaningful experience, inviting both visitors and residents to slow down, pause, and discover the cultural richness of the Sorrento Peninsula.
Through themed itineraries, artisan workshops, storytelling, demonstrations, and symbolic sites, A Meta Percorsi promotes slow, sustainable tourism deeply rooted in local traditions, creating new opportunities for artists, craftspeople, and local enterprises.
The trail dedicated to the art of nativity scenes in Meta
The first itinerary of the A Meta Percorsi project there is the one dedicated to the art of the nativity scene, one of the artistic expressions that most defines the identity of the Neapolitan and Campanian tradition.
Today, this ancient art is at risk of gradually disappearing. Traditional techniques passed down through generations are practiced less and less, and many historic workshops have closed over the years.
In this context, Meta still preserves a precious heritage thanks to the presence of two master craftsmen who continue to work according to the tradition of the 18th-century Neapolitan nativity scene: Giuseppe Ercolano and Federico Iaccarino.
Their workshops are not mere exhibition spaces, but living environments where the art of nativity scene making thrives daily through time-honored craftsmanship, manual techniques, historical study, and artistic research.
The route allows visitors to step inside the workshops, observe the creation of nativity figures up close, learn about the materials used, and discover a tradition that remains alive all year round—well beyond the Christmas season.
Each piece is the result of an extensive manual process: sculpting the clay, crafting the expressions, sewing the costumes, working the wood, and designing the sets.. A cultural heritage that recounts not only the religious tradition but also the social, popular, and artistic history of the Campania region.