.- The giant fir that will stand in St. Peter’s Square and serve as the Vatican’s official Christmas Tree arrived at its destination on Friday. The tree was sent from a forest in the Belgian region of Wallonia near the town of Spa and towers 98 feet. Workers at the Vatican finished preparing the tree over the weekend, decorating it with 2,000 gold and silver colored bulbs and 1,500 lights, “of the most efficient kind with regards to consumption and upkeep,” the L’Osservatore Romano reported.
The opening ceremony will take place the afternoon of December 18. The Belgian town of Spa has also donated 40 small fir trees to decorate the halls and rooms of the Vatican.
