Photo: Robur.q (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Italy's oldest living tree has an age nobody can pin down within fifteen centuries.
Ancient trees in Italy
Padua's botanical garden opened in 1545 and one of its founding plants is still alive: a dwarf fan palm that Goethe wrote an entire essay about in 1786, using it to illustrate his theory of how plants grow. This page maps 299 remarkable trees across 25 cities in Italy, each one researched and verified. The oldest of them is S'Ozzastru in Sardinia, at roughly 3,000-4,000 years, possibly older (contested).
That tree sets Italy's pattern. Its oldest survivors stand less in open woodland than behind walls someone built on purpose, villa gardens, monastery cloisters, university botanical collections kept for study rather than shade. Rome's own oldest confirmed tree, a 425-year-old oriental plane, grows in a garden laid out for a cardinal. Italy's national tree register lists more monumental specimens than any other country mapped here, but carries no age field at all, so most of the dates on this site come from regional catalogues and city archives instead, the same close reading that first put a number on Goethe's palm.
Every mapped city in Italy
1
Rome30 trees · oldest 425 years2
Florence23 trees · oldest roughly 375 years3
Milan22 trees · oldest approximately 235-251 years4
Naples22 trees · oldest approximately 220 years5
Palermo21 trees · oldest around 200 years6Caserta20 trees · oldest over 200 years7
Lucca14 trees · oldest 204 years, planted in 18228
Bologna12 trees · oldest approximately 200-206 years9
Genoa12 trees · oldest roughly 200-350 years (girth-based estimate, no dated source)10
Padua12 trees · oldest roughly 440 years11
Venice11 trees · oldest undated, garden founded 1834-3512Perugia10 trees · oldest secular (multiple centuries), planting begun 18th century13
Trento10 trees · oldest about 190 years14
Trieste10 trees · oldest over 200 years15
Turin10 trees · oldest over 200 years, by the regional register's age band16
Como9 trees · oldest about 200 years17
Bergamo8 trees · oldest over 200 years18
Cagliari8 trees · oldest over 200 years19
Verona8 trees · oldest planted 187320
Ferrara5 trees · oldest over 150 years21Parma5 trees · oldest over 190 years22Sardinia5 trees · oldest roughly 3,000-4,000 years, possibly older (contested)23Bari4 trees · oldest planted in the second half of the 19th century, so roughly 125 to 175 years old24
Catania4 trees · oldest roughly 165 years25Sorrento4 trees · oldest roughly 150 years
Rome30 trees · oldest 425 years2Florence23 trees · oldest roughly 375 years3Milan22 trees · oldest approximately 235-251 years4Naples22 trees · oldest approximately 220 years5Palermo21 trees · oldest around 200 years6Caserta20 trees · oldest over 200 years7Lucca14 trees · oldest 204 years, planted in 18228Bologna12 trees · oldest approximately 200-206 years9Genoa12 trees · oldest roughly 200-350 years (girth-based estimate, no dated source)10Padua12 trees · oldest roughly 440 years11Venice11 trees · oldest undated, garden founded 1834-3512Perugia10 trees · oldest secular (multiple centuries), planting begun 18th century13Trento10 trees · oldest about 190 years14Trieste10 trees · oldest over 200 years15Turin10 trees · oldest over 200 years, by the regional register's age band16Como9 trees · oldest about 200 years17Bergamo8 trees · oldest over 200 years18Cagliari8 trees · oldest over 200 years19Verona8 trees · oldest planted 187320Ferrara5 trees · oldest over 150 years21Parma5 trees · oldest over 190 years22Sardinia5 trees · oldest roughly 3,000-4,000 years, possibly older (contested)23Bari4 trees · oldest planted in the second half of the 19th century, so roughly 125 to 175 years old24Catania4 trees · oldest roughly 165 years25Sorrento4 trees · oldest roughly 150 years94 species grow in Italy
Oaks Holm Oak 10 · Pedunculate Oak 4 · Cork Oak 3 · Downy Oak 2 · Northern Red Oak 2 · Turkey Oak 2 · Crenate Oak 1 · Valonia Oak 1
Beeches European Beech 1 · Fern-leaved Beech 1 · Sweet Chestnut 1
Elms and zelkovas Caucasian Elm 2 · Field Elm 2 · Saw-leaf Zelkova 1 · Siberian Elm 1 · Wych Elm 1
Planes London Plane 37 · Oriental Plane 6 · American Sycamore 1
Limes Silver Lime 1
Chestnuts, walnuts and hazels Horse Chestnut 5 · Caucasian Wingnut 4 · Butternut 1 · Pecan 1
Figs and mulberries Moreton Bay Fig 12 · White Mulberry 2 · Osage Orange 1
Conifers Cedar of Lebanon 19 · Ginkgo 15 · Himalayan Cedar 13 · Mediterranean Cypress 11 · Coast Redwood 6 · Atlas Cedar 5 · European Yew 5 · Aleppo Pine 4 · Bunya Pine 4 · Stone Pine 4 · Bald Cypress 3 · Chir Pine 3 · Monterey Cypress 3 · Montezuma Cypress 2 · Chilgoza Pine 1 · Cook Pine 1 · Corsican Pine 1 · Douglas Fir 1 · Ghost Pine 1 · Incense Cedar 1 · Japanese Cedar 1 · Monkey Puzzle 1 · Norfolk Island Pine 1 · Turkish Pine 1
Palms Chilean Wine Palm 2 · Cretan Date Palm 2 · Date Palm 1 · Mexican Fan Palm 1
Fruit and blossom Wild Olive 3 · Strawberry Tree 2 · Greek Strawberry Tree 1 · Olive 1 · Wild Cherry 1
Southern hemisphere Dragon Tree 4 · Ombu 3 · Silk Floss Tree 2 · Tasmanian Blue Gum 2 · Blue Jacaranda 1 · Bottle Tree 1 · Flame Tree 1 · River Red Gum 1 · Swamp Mahogany 1
More broadleaf trees Mediterranean Hackberry 12 · Southern Magnolia 6 · Camphor Tree 5 · Mixed species 4 · Black Poplar 3 · Honey Locust 2 · Japanese Pagoda Tree 2 · Mexican Blue Palm 2 · Nepal Camphor Tree 2 · Willowleaf Podocarp 2 · Balearic Box 1 · Buddhist Pine 1 · Common Hackberry 1 · Empress Tree 1 · European Fan Palm / Saint Peter's Palm 1 · European Hop-hornbeam 1 · Giant Yucca 1 · Gray Poplar 1 · Horsetail Casuarina 1 · Mandarin 1 · Ponytail Palm / Elephant's Foot 1 · Prickly Paperbark 1 · Prosopis torquata 1 · Southern Catalpa 1 · Sweet Osmanthus 1
The oldest tree mapped in Italy
Trees from Italy also appear in Europe's Best Tree City Trips · Europe's Most Remarkable Yews · Europe's Oldest City Trees Are Mostly Immigrants. See every city on the map, or open the map to find what is near you.