Moldova’s Christmas Tree in “national style”

The Christmas Tree in Moldova will “wear national clothes”. This indication was given to Chisinau municipality’s authorities during a special meeting where the schedule for the winter holidays in the capital has been discussed. It rests with the Green Spaces Management Association to decorate the Christmas Tree “in national style”. Interim chief of the municipal Culture Division Leonid Gorceac said Monday, December 4 at the City Hall’s session that at the same meeting it was decided the Christmas Tree will be installed in the Great National Assembly Square, in front of the main entrance to the Government’s House. Head of state has insisted that the music to be played around the Christmas tree for the entire duration of the winter holidays. It was also decided the main festive tree of Moldova will be lighted by the head of state and interim mayor of the capital on December 23. At the same time, the trees installed on the plateaus in the capitals’ districts will be lighted by the district heads of office. The tradition to meet the New Year with a decorated tree comes from the ancient ritual to revere the nature and from the desire to have a rich harvest in the coming year. It is supposed that the Germans are the first Christian people who followed the ancient example and started to decorate the Christmas trees. By the end of the nineteenth century Christmas was unimaginable in German homes without a decorated festive tree. In the Romanians’ homes the tradition began to be felt due to the German influence, when the first Romanian students started to go to the universities in Berlin or Vienna and to the royal Palace of Hohenzollern dynasty, arrived in the Romanian Kingdom in 1860.