The main Christmas tree of Vilnius is recognized as the most beautiful in Europe according to Europeanbestdestinations.
The Christmas "tree" is installed in the сentral square of the capital of Lithuania and represents a metal construction decorated with chess pieces and crowned with a crown, which makes it look like a chess Queen.
The 27-metre tall metal construction has about 6 thousand "branches", which are decorated with more than five kilometers of lighting.
In the ranking of the ten most beautiful Christmas trees in Europe Vilnius is followed by Prague, Strasbourg, Cologne, Kiev, Rome, Vienna, Austria, Budapest, Innsbruck and Brussels.
In Europe, the first written mention of decorated Christmas trees dates back to the second half of the XVI century and are of Alsatian origin.
One of the original reasons for the use of trees on "legs" was that in Europe in the Middle ages it was customary to play at Christmas scenes from the Bible in churchyards.
The garden of Eden and seduction scene required an apple tree with fruit, which, given the time of year, was replaced by a tree decorated with red apples. In addition, the triangular shape of the tree reminded Christians of the Trinity.