The Downy Oak of Fonte Colombo (Tree of Perfect Gaiety)
Fonte Colombo, Rieti
Francis of Assisi is said to have told Brother Leo the story of perfect joy somewhere near this sanctuary: that true gaiety is not miracles or fame but bearing insult and hardship for Christ's sake, patiently, without bitterness. It is one of the best known parables in the Fioretti, the Little Flowers of St Francis, and in 2014 this downy oak was put forward for Italy's Tree of the Year under the parable's own name, L'Albero della Perfetta Letizia, the Tree of Perfect Gaiety. It is easy to confuse with an older story on the same grounds. A holm oak once stood nearby marking the spot where the sanctuary's own tradition says Christ appeared to confirm Francis's Rule; that tree came down in a heavy snowfall in the winter of 1622, and its wood was carved into a sculpture that still stands inside the church. The downy oak carrying the Perfect Gaiety name is a separate, living tree, photographed in 2012 for the nomination two years later. Nobody has published an age or a girth for it, an odd gap for a tree carrying this much legend; if you have measured it, tell us. The Sanctuary of Fonte Colombo sits in wooded hills outside Rieti, one of the Franciscan Valley sites where Francis is thought to have written much of his Rule, reachable on the sanctuary's own grounds with no gate keeping the tree itself from view.
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Getting there
Grounds of the Santuario di Fonte Colombo, Vazia, Rieti
You can recognise it as a living downy oak, not the fenced stump elsewhere on the grounds marking where tradition says Christ appeared (that older tree fell in 1622). It stands within the Sanctuary of Fonte Colombo, outside Rieti.
Free to visit; stands on the grounds of the Santuario di Fonte Colombo, an active Franciscan sanctuary and pilgrimage site (a stop on the Cammino di Francesco) that is open to visitors and pilgrims. Exact rules on approaching this specific tree within the grounds not independently confirmed.
In the Valle Santa reatina, a few km from Rieti (not from Fara in Sabina, see note); no public transport confirmed, likely reached by car/pilgrim trail from Rieti.
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.