Though Nativity scenes are popular today as a way of displaying our faith during the Christmas season, the first one didn’t actually show up in Europe until the 13th century, Abigail Robertson writes in her article for CBN.

Museum of the Bible curator Jeffery Kloha explained in his interview with Abigail, that St. Francis of Assisi set up Europe’s first Nativity scene at his church outside Greccio, Italy in 1223 AD.

St. Francis had visited Bethlehem and was inspired by the Nativity scene set up at the site, thought to be the birthplace of Christ.

The famous monk went all out, and Europe’s first nativity was actually what is described today as a ‘living’ scene. It had real actors, and live animals, as part of its replication of the manger scene.

Because, it included hay, the locals traveling to the service often tied up their animals at the Nativity, adding to the realism.

The site of Europe’s first Nativity display remains special to this day and is regularly visited by Popes during the Christmas season.