Over 4,500 hours and 7,275 pounds of chocolate have gone into creating the creche.

Christmas has never tasted this good. Thirty-two pastry chefs in the southern Italian city of Naples unveiled on Saturday what they say is the biggest ever nativity scene made entirely of chocolate.

Over 4,500 hours and 7,275 pounds of chocolate have gone into creating the creche which is 19 feet, 8 inches wide, 9 feet, 10 inches high and -- to the delight of chocoholics -- totally edible.

"For us, this is an unrepeatable event, something which we will never be able to do again," pastry chef Antonio Castaldo told reporters ahead of the unveiling as he put the last touches on the golden locks of a white chocolate baby Jesus.

The Neapolitan team, working through the night in a spartan garage, not only included the area's finest pastry chefs but expert carpenters, sculptors and painters pooling their skills to produce this ode to the cocoa bean.

More than 100 figures of shepherds, animals and townspeople decorate the elaborate scene of hills and caves and Mediterranean-style houses. The angelic-looking Madonna alone took two weeks to make.

Every year, the narrow cobbled street of San Gregorio Armeno in the heart of Naples comes alive as artisans peddle their often witty, hand-crafted nativity scenes.

This year's personalities include Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, the two Italian women taken hostage in Iraq last September and then released. In the past, Osama Bin Laden, and President Bush have featured alongside Jesus and Mary.

But without a doubt, the chocolate creche has stolen the limelight this Christmas.

Lucky for the crowds that hungrily descended on the scene Saturday, its creators said they are considering donating the nativity scene to the city so that people can taste a piece of chocolate history in true Christmas spirit.

(Agencies)