Christmas tree

A Christmas tree is a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. It is usually an evergreen coniferous tree that is cut and brought into the home. In Europe, the tree is traditionally a Norway spruce tree.

The tree is decorated with Christmas lights and colourful ornaments during the days around Christmas. An angel or a star is often placed at the top of the tree. Fir trees outside the home may be decorated in a similar fashion. The custom of the Christmas tree has its origin among the Protestant peoples of Northern Europe. It is not a religious symbol.

In minority communities

Until the 2023 there was an annual Christmas tree in the courtyard of the YMCA in Gaza City (Arabic: جمعية الشبان المسيحية غزة ) in the Gaza Strip.^[1] In 2022, the Christmas Tree in Gaza City YMCA was topped with a big red star.

Christmas Tree Media

Christmas tree decorated with lights, stars, and glass balls
Glade jul by Viggo Johansen (1891)
Typical North American family decorating Christmas tree (c. 1970s)
Yggdrasil, in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree.
The hanging of a podłaźniczka during Christmastide is an old Polish folk custom (2020).
A German Christmas tree in a room at Versailles turned into a military hospital
An engraving published in the 1840s of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert created a craze for Christmas trees.
Decorated Chichilaki at the Orbeliani Palace