Italy lights up the world’s largest Christmas tree

Rome: The ‘world’s largest Christmas tree’ is lit up each year on the slopes of Monte Ingino, overlooking the mediaeval town of Gubbio in Italy’s central Umbria region.

To mark the festive season, the town illuminates its magical Christmas tree with more than 700 lights in an annual lighting ceremony dating back to 1981.

Topped with a giant star, the tree measures 750m in height. There are 8.5 km worth of cables powering the lights of the enormous tree display which entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1991.

The tree is outlined with 300 green lights while the interior is lit up with 400 multicoloured lights.

The ‘roots’ of the tree stretch from near Gubbio’s ancient walls while its star reaches the basilica of the town’s patron saint, S. Ubaldo, at the peak of the mountain.

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The tree’s lights will be illuminated on the evening of 7 December 2020 and the annual campaign inviting people to ‘adopt’ a light has just concluded.

Each of the tree’s lights has been sponsored by locals who dedicate a light to their loved ones, with messages ranging from welcoming new-born babies to saluting dearly-missed grandparents looking down from heaven.

The town of Gubbio is usually bedecked in beautiful Christmas lights but that has all been cancelled this year due to the ongoing covid-19 crisis in Italy.

The Christmas tree will remain lit from dusk to late at night, until January 2021.