ORevery self-respecting city must have its own Christmas tree in the main square. But to have it every year so many, too many trees are cut down in open contradiction to all the proclamations for save the planet from the climate crisis. Yet, as we know, traditions take a long time to change.
Biggest (natural) Christmas tree in the world
There are, however, countries that don’t cut their Christmas trees, they leave them where they were born and where they have their roots. The largest in the world is located in California. His name is General Grant Tree and it is an imposing sequoia 81 meters high, with a trunk circumference at the base of just over 32 meters and a total volume of over 1300 cubic meters.
Just to make the idea better and imagine it, just think that it could be comparable to Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, which touches 85 meters, or al Milan Cathedral with its 108 meters. Until 1930, it was considered the largest tree on the planet. The first place, however, with modern measurements, went to the “neighbor” of the forest, the General Sherman Tree.
General Grant Tree, the Christmas march to greet him
The first Christmas ceremony at the foot of the General Grant Tree was held on December 25, 1925 and a few months later it was declared the Nation’s Christmas tree.
Over the years, it has become a tradition to go and say hello the second Sunday of December, walking along the paths of the King’s Canyon National Park. The Christmas period, moreover, cloaks the sequoia and all around with snow making the show really exciting.
Saved by the environmental movement
The two monumental trees are dedicated to the two generals, Sherman and Grant, in fact, protagonists of the bloody civil war (1861-1865). The General Grant Tree, is located in the park King’s Canyon National Park, in California, while the General Sherman Tree in the Giant forest in Sequoia National Park, east of Visalia in California.
Their lasting life is due to the activism of an environmental movement which was born in the mid-19th century to stop the human activities that were spreading rapidly in the interior mountains of California with the consequent clearing of forests. Their work led to the formation of some of the earliest state and national parks, places that began to attract tourism from all over the world.
Largest Christmas tree in the world: Italy has its own too
Regarding the tallest natural Christmas tree in Italy, there is an open dispute between the costal redwoods of the park of Villa Inzoli, in Tradate (VA) and those of park of Villa Ogliani, in Rivara Canavese (TO). In both cases, however, we are talking about trees a span over 35 meters high.
Then there is another that, despite not having roots and trunk, it can be considered the largest natural tree in the world. In fact, it is the 300 green lights that draw the shape of the fir, over 650 meters high, on Mount Ingino in Gubbio, a historic village in Umbria.
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