Spotlight on...Christmas Trees!
Seen as the Gastaldi Elves spend an awful lot of December whizzing around Monaco delivering, decorating and dancing around Christmas trees, we thought we’d share a few little interesting festive tree facts!
Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year round had a special meaning for people in the winter, and specifically around the winter solstice.
In ancient times people hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows, many believing that they would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness!
1000 years ago in Northern Europe Christmas trees were hung upside down from chandeliers!
The first documented use of a tree at Christmas was in the year 1510, in the town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia.
Originally, candles were used to decorate Christmas trees (err, hello, fire hazard!) to represent the stars in the night sky.
Nowadays, the finishing touch to the tree tends to be the ever so awkward to attach Star or Angle right on the top; originally this was a figure of the Baby Jesus.
Every year, since 1947, the enormous tree in London’s Trafalgar square is given to the UK by the city of Oslo, Norway.
The Pine takes on average 5 years to grow, the Spruce 7, and the Noble Fir 10.
In Poland, spider webs are common Christmas tree decorations because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus! Creepy AND cute!
So there you have it, a little bit of festive trivia to impress your loved ones with this Christmas around the dinner table!
