Rooted to the hills, hemmed in by thick woods of oak and ilex, with a stupendous view of the valley below, Greccio is an ancient medieval town of undoubted charm. It is known for the most part for the nearby Santuario del Presepe, which recalls one of the most important chapters in the story of St. Francis. Here, on Christmas Eve of the year 1223, in a cave, St. Francis commemorated the Nativity with live characters, thus instituting the tradition of the Nativity scene (presepe). The cave became a chapel, at the back of which there are two frescoes representing the Nativity of Christ and the Presepe of Greccio. Beside it there still exists the first friars' dormitory, with the cell where St. Francis slept and the place where San Bernardino's pulpit stood. Nearby is the little 13th-century church dedicated to the saint of Assisi, containing valuable frescoes of the Umbrian school.
At Greccio the Torre Campanara, the tallest of the two remaining towers of the old castle, is also worthy of note. In 1799, after the town was sacked by the French, the church of San Michele Arcangelo was built nearby.
The town is 13 km to the north-west of Rieti, at the western edge of the Rieti valley.
