BEIRUT, Lebanon - As the holiday season wrapped up, shoppers at Lebanon’s City Mall saw the dismantling of another prominent Christmas exhibit.

Chantilly Chocolatier’s giant chocolate nativity scene was on display for the last time on January 8. The chocolate pieces from the "belen" were given away to various charities.
 
The 70-square-meter “Belen” was a favorite attraction of City Mall shoppers all throughout the Christmas season. The mall also had other crowd-pleasing attractions such as a towering Christmas tree with sparkling Swarovski ornaments and BHV’s giant fairy–tale display.
 
According to Chantilly Chocolatier, the life-sized chocolate nativity scene was the first of its kind in the world.

Assembled by 37 Lebanese designers and craftsmen, “La Crèche en Chocolat,” or “The Chocolate Nativity Scene,” was made up of 120,000 chocolates individually wrapped in glittering foil. Perhaps the wrapping was what set this Belen apart from other giant chocolate Belens, such as that in Cordoba, Spain, which was carved out of bare chocolate and boasted to be the largest in the world.
 
Filipino Christopher Coronel, a process technician at General Packaging Industries in Lebanon, was impressed by the chocolate belen.
 
“It’s the first time I’ve seen this kind of exhibit, where small pieces of chocolate were put together to make … this,” he said, pointing to the giant Belen. “It’s really a delight, especially for kids.”
 
Chantilly Chocolatier is a manufacturer of fine chocolates with a broad presence in the Middle East. It has a factory in Dubai and shops in Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and France.