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Brussels Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree in the Grand-Place in 1979 The Brussels Christmas tree is a Christmas tree erected annually in the Grand-Place, Brussels, Belgium. It has traditionally been a real tree either from the Ardennes forest, from the city of Helsinki or from different countries as diplomatic gift, except in 2012 when it was replaced with an abstract sculpture. Traditional trees Traditionally, the Grand-Place in the centre of Brussels hosts a real Christmas tree each year, taken from the Ardennes forest. The normal height for these trees is around high. The Grand-Place itself dates from the 17th century and has played host to a Christmas market each year since 2000. 2012 tree On 30 November 2012, a high abstract-style tree was erected in the Grand-Place instead of a central real Christmas tree. It was designed to work with an overall theme of light installations in the Grand-Place, and allowed visitors to climb to the top of the "tree". It was constructed out of steel-framed boxes, w ...
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Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. The majority of Muslims also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad ('' sunnah'') as recorded in traditional accounts (''hadith''). With an estimated population of almost 1.9 billion followers as of 2020 year estimation, Muslims comprise more than 24.9% of the world's total population. In descending order, the percentage of people who identify as Muslims on each continental landmass stands at: 45% of Africa, 25% of Asia and Oceania (collectively), 6% of Europe, and 1% of the Americas. Additionally, in subdivided geographical regions, the figure stands at: 91% of the Middle East–North Africa, 90% of Central Asia, 65% of the Caucasus, 42% of Southeast As ...
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Christmas In Belgium
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it. The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies. When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming ...
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Tourist Attractions In Brussels
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic (within the traveller's own country) or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Tourism numbers declined as a result of a strong economic slowdown (the late-2000s recession) between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and in consequence of the outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, but slowly recovered until the COVID-19 ...
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Buildings And Structures In Brussels
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, prestige, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the term ''building'' compare the list of nonbuilding structures. Buildings serve several societal needs – primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical division of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) and the ''outside'' (a place that at times may be harsh and harmful). Ever since the first cave paintings, buildings have also become objects or canvasses of much artis ...
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Individual Christmas Trees
An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities. The concept of an individual features in diverse fields, including biology, law, and philosophy. Etymology From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics) ''individual'' meant " indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person". From the 17th century on, ''individual'' has indicated separateness, as in individualism. Law Although individuality and individualism are commonly considered to mature with age/time and experience/wealth, a sane adult human being is usually considered by the state as an "individual person" in law, even if the person denies individual culpability ("I followed ...
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Tree (installation)
''Tree'' was a controversial high inflatable sculpture by the artist Paul McCarthy that was briefly installed in the Place Vendôme in Paris in October 2014 as part of a exhibition called "Hors les murs". Although officially described as a Christmas tree, it was widely criticised for its similarity in appearance to a huge green butt plug. McCarthy admitted that it was deliberately shaped as such as a joke. The controversy over the sculpture led to McCarthy being assaulted and the sculpture being vandalised only two days after its installation; a vandal climbed the fencing around it and cut the power supply which kept it inflated, in addition to cutting the cords holding it up. McCarthy stated that he did not want the work repaired or replaced. The attention given to the sculpture brought a boom in sales of real butt plugs in Paris: a sex shop owner reported that he usually sold 50 per month predominantly to gay men, but in November 2014 sold over 1,000 roughly divided equally ...
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Philippe Close
Philippe Close (born 18 March 1971 in Namur) is a Belgian politician, member of the Socialist Party and the current mayor of the city of Brussels (since 2017). Biography Close has a law degree from Université libre de Bruxelles. In 2000, he became Elio Di Rupo's spokesman before joining the City of Brussels in 2001, as the chief of staff of Mayor Freddy Thielemans. In 2006, he was elected to the Brussels City Council, after which he became alderman. In 2009, he was elected as member of the Brussels Parliament The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (French: ''Parlement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale'', Dutch: ''Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gew .... In 2013, he was considered as successor to Brussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans (PS), but the office went to Yvan Mayeur (PS). Following financial scandals in 2017, Mayeur resigned and was succeeded by Close. References ...
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Christmas Market
A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: ''Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Christkindlmarket'', ''Christkindlimarkt'', and ''Weihnachtsmarkt'', is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent. These markets originated in Germany, but are now held in many countries. Christmas markets date to the Late Middle Ages in the German-speaking part of Europe and in many parts of the former Holy Roman Empire that included many eastern regions of France. They became a popular Advent custom during the Reformation era. Dresden's Striezelmarkt was first held in 1434 and one of the first true Christmas markets; earlier markets of the season were "December markets". Early mentions of these "December markets" can be found in Vienna (1298), Munich (1310), Bautzen (1384), and Frankfurt (139 ...
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Christmas Tree
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern Germany where German Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. It acquired popularity beyond the Lutheran areas of Germany and the Baltic governorates during the second half of the 19th century, at first among the upper classes. The tree was traditionally decorated with "roses made of colored paper, apples, wafers, tinsel, ndsweetmeats". Moravian Christians began to illuminate Christmas trees with candles, which were often replaced by Christmas lights after the advent of electrification. Today, there is a wide variety of traditional and modern ornaments, such as garlands, baubles, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star might be placed at the top of the tree to represent the Angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethle ...
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Diplomatic Gift
A diplomatic gift is a gift given by a :diplomat, politician or leader when visiting a foreign country. Usually the gift is reciprocated by the host. The use of diplomatic gifts dates back to the ancient world and givers have competed to outdo each other in the lavishness of their gifts. Examples include silks given to the West by the Byzantines in the early Middle Ages,"Silken diplomacy" by Anna Muthesius in Shepard J. & Franklin, Simon. (Eds.) (1992) ''Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers from the Twenty-fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990.'' Aldershot: Variorum, pp. 236–248. the luxury book,"The luxury book as diplomatic gift" by John Lowden in Shepard J. & Franklin, Simon. (Eds.) (1992) ''Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers from the Twenty-fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990.'' Aldershot: Variorum, pp. 249–260. and panda diplomacy by the Chinese in the twentieth century. The Middle Ages In 757 Byzantine emperor Constantine ...
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Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The Helsinki urban area, city's urban area has a population of , making it by far the List of urban areas in Finland by population, most populous urban area in Finland as well as the country's most important center for politics, education, finance, culture, and research; while Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region, located to the north from Helsinki, is the second largest urban area in Finland. Helsinki is located north of Tallinn, Estonia, east of Stockholm, Sweden, and west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has History of Helsinki, close historical ties with these three cities. Together with the cities of Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen (and surrounding commuter towns, including the eastern ...
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