It’s that time of the year again, when you frequently finding yourself bobbing your head along to Boney M in the shops and dreaming of Christmas roasts and puddings. Homes of those that celebrate Christmas almost always display the dominant symbol of this festive holiday – a brightly-decorated Christmas tree.
The tradition of decorated Christmas tree is long and rich, but it’s not longer confined traditional pine trees. You’ll find modern ones, like the Moët and Chandon Golden Christmas tree that marked the opening of the festive season in Cape Town’s Silo District and Germany’s most expensive Christmas tree, which is made of real gold coins.
Here are this year’s tree-mendous Christmas masterpieces.
1. Rio de Janeiro
The 70m tall structure in this city floats over the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon. The tree’s lights will be switched on for the first time in two years, since it had previously been experiencing funding shortages.
Image by Leandro Neumann Ciuffo
2. Rockafellar Plaza, New York
The Rockafellar Christmas tree has been in the same exact spot since 1933. Its lights are switched on at an official ceremony, where a live concert featuring the best-known singers of America takes place.
3. Cape Town, South Africa
Late-night shopping in Cape Town will have an extra sparkle with the Moët and Chandon Golden Christmas Tree in the Silo District. The tree was erected entirely out of more than 1,800 recycled champagne bottles collected from all over South Africa.
Images supplied
4. Turin, Italy
The Turin Christmas tree is known as the Tree of Light. The multi-coloured structure weighs 4,800kg and is 18m in height. More than 20,000 LED bulbs were used to put the tree together.
5. Taipei, Taiwan
In December every year, Taipei is a dazzling array of lights and has a (very) tall open-air Christmas tree on show. The festive season celebrations consist of Christmasy activities and art installations.
Image by Matador Network
6. Monte Ingino in Gubbio, Italy
Monte Ingino is just outside of Gubbio in central Italy. The tree, not so much a structure as an enormous lit-up symbol on the hillside, consists of a large amount of individual pine trees fitted with lights to make the tree’s outline and baubles. Every year the Pope switches on the tree remotely from a computer.
Image from Matador Network
7. Vilnius, Lithuania
The Christmas tree on the Cathedral Square in Lithuania has become the pride of the country. The lighting of the tree has been celebrated for several years in a row.
Image from Vilnuis Tourism
8. West Palm Beach in Florida, United States
Florida doesn’t get any snow, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get to have a Christmas tree. It’s known as one of the world’s only sand tree, weighing close to 700,000 kilograms.
Image from West Palm Florida
9. Galeries Lafayette Paris, France
This tree is erected in the Galeries Lafayette Department store each year, with a different theme every time.
Image from Matador Network
