The Vatican's Christmas tree has arrived in St. Peter's Square. It comes from Palena, a town of just over 1,000 people in the central Italian region of Abruzzo.
Yet getting it there was no easy task. The nearly 100-foot fir is not quite the one the Vatican planned to put there two years ago, and was instead arranged at the last minute.
A white fir from the Monte Castel Barone nature reserve was originally planned for, and the mayor that offered to donate it to the Vatican had thought the land belonged to his town, although ultimately didn't, and the tree stayed put, and another was selected.
On December 3, Cardinal Fernando Vérgez, the president of the governorate of Vatican City State, will preside of the traditional inauguration ceremony for the tree, and a hand-carved wooden Nativity scene that comes from the town of Sutrio near Venice.
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TR: JM
