It is located in the Italian town of Greccio, about 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) from the city of Rieti, seat of the homonym province, is recessed at an altitude of 665 metres (2,182 ft) above sea level, in the rocks of the mountains in the immediate vicinity of the medieval village of Greccio with views of the wide Rieti Valley.

Francis presented the first living Nativity scene in a nearby cave in December 1223.

A story within the legendarium tells of a child to whom Francis threw a firebrand, flying like an arrow, and it landed on the rock wall of a hill, the Velita, owned by a lord of Greccio.

In 1223, Francis here observed and oversaw a retelling, with live people, of the story the birth of Christ on Christmas Eve.

Inside there are frescoes modern and original chapel of the saint carved in the rock.