Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn presents Christmas holiday events Nov. 25–Jan. 8

Glencairn Museum once again has planned an impressive array of programs, tours and exhibitions that present the wonder, beauty and joy of the Christmas story to entertain, sooth, enrich, delight and inspire those of all ages this holiday season.

During the holiday season, the Museum’s tours and exhibitions run daily from the Friday after Thanksgiving through Sunday, January 8, except for four days when the Museum is closed to the public: December 12, 24 and 25 and December 13 until 7:15pm, when doors open for the annual Christmas Sing Concert.

Here is a line-up of events, with details for arranging your visit so you can enjoy the castle and its treasures to the fullest. Glencairn Museum is at 1001 Cathedral Road in Bryn Athyn 19009.

CHRISTMAS IN THE CASTLE guided tour
This annual tour reveals how Christmas was celebrated at Glencairn when it was the private home of the Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn family (1940s to 1970s). The tour changes yearly, and each year features something new—or newly discovered from the cellars or storerooms of the castle. This year’s tour features the story of the Pitcairn family’s special Santa and reindeer decoration that was discovered in Glencairn earlier in the year.

Reservations strongly recommended for 45-minute guided tour. M-F 1:30 & 2:30pm; Sat & Sun 1:00, 1:30 & 2:30pm. November 25–January 8. Closed December 12, 13, 24 and 25. $12 adults, $10 65+/students, half price Basic members, free for Gold and Patron members and children 3 and under.

WORLD NATIVITIES exhibition
Come view 40 unique three-dimensional scenes depicting the Christmas story from artists and cultures across the globe, many never before exhibited. This year's exhibition includes a Nativity created by Winfred Hyatt for the Pitcairn family in the 1920s, a Nativity made by the Jimenez family of Masaya, Nicaragua, that features 26 hand-carved and -painted wooden figures on loan from a collector in Utah, and others from the Glencairn collection and on loan from other collections.

Glencairn's featured Nativity this year is an exquisite traditional Neapolitan presepio (Nativity scene). The famous Italian city of Naples in the 18th century is the setting for more than 100 figures representing the Holy Family, Magi, angels and shepherds as well as daily life in the city, including vendors, farmers, tradespeople, peasants and members of high society, and many exotic visitors to the busy international port—all going about their daily business seemingly unaware of the birth of the Christ Child in their midst.

The figures, created by Neapolitan masters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were collected by the late Elizabeth Anne Evans of Langhorne on her annual visits to Italy and donated after her death by her sisters to the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. The presepio is on loan to Glencairn through arrangement with the Fleisher.

Self-guided tour of exhibition: Daily 12:00 to 4:30pm. November 25–January 8. Closed Dec. 12, 13, 24 and 25. Included with guided tour admission; suggested $5pp donation for self-guided viewing with Christmas in Pennsylvania.

CHRISTMAS IN PENNSYLVANIA exhibition
What was Christmas like before you were born? Study objects and images from the collections of the National Christmas Center and Museum in Lancaster, the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center in Kutztown and Glencairn show how Christmas was celebrated in Philadelphia and in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Self-guided tour of exhibition: Daily 12:00 to 4:30pm. November 25–January 8. Closed Dec. 12, 13, 24 and 25. Included with guided tour admission; suggested $5pp donation for self-guided viewing with World Nativities.