The Christmas tree standing in Vilnius' Cathedral Square has been acknowledged as one of the most beautiful in the world this year, according to The Guardian and Huffington Post. Vilnius' tree, whose windows have drawn comparisons to storybook cottages, was ranked alongside other beautiful trees raised in Washington, Melbourne and New York.
The Christmas tree standing in Vilnius' Cathedral Square has been acknowledged as one of the most beautiful in the world this year, according to The Guardian and Huffington Post. Vilnius' tree, whose windows have drawn comparisons to storybook cottages, was ranked alongside other beautiful trees raised in Washington, Melbourne and New York.
Jolanta Tūraitė, the architect at “Švenčių Studijos“ who designed the tree, told DELFI, “With this tree, we wanted to spread the message that the world is our home. It's an important message now, when there's so much turmoil and war between so many people and nations. We wanted to point out that we all live under one roof. We want everyone who looks at our tree to feel that it's a cosy and natural home.”
Other have stated that the tree's windows, according to old Lithuanian beliefs, symbolize the relationship between an individual's inner and outer selves, or between their soul and the rest of the world.
The tree is composed of an underlying structure covered in branches, which Tūraitė said was an environmental decision. “The Christmas tree's branches were taken from planned cuttings, because we traditionally want to underscore the fact that we don't have to hurt the environment to satisfy ourselves. We need to live in harmony with nature, people and countries,” she said.
The tree was lit on 27 November 2015 in front of about 3,000 onlookers. At the event, the storybook Christmas tree hosted various story readings by authors, actors and other Lithuanian celebrities.
