Photo: Javier Hermoso De Mendoza (CC BY-SA 2.0 es)
Encina Tres Patas de Mendaza
Photo: Javier Hermoso De Mendoza (CC BY-SA 2.0 es)See it at full size

Encina Tres Patas de Mendaza

Years old1000-1400
SpeciesHolm Oak

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How do I find it? You can recognise it by the trunk: hollow through the middle, standing on three separate buttresses rather than one round stem, with metal bands around the opening. It stands alone on the path between Mendaza and the Ermita de Santa Coloma.

This oak's trunk is not a trunk. It is three thick buttresses standing around a hollow core, which is where the name comes from: the Encina Tres Patas, the Three-Legged Oak, and from a distance the three legs really do look like they are holding the crown up on their own. It stands on a hillside in Navarre's Berrueza valley, on the path between Mendaza village and the Ermita de Santa Coloma. Spanish Wikipedia, Wikidata and a regional travel blog agree closely on its size: a girth of 770 centimetres, a height of 15.5 metres, a crown spreading 19.2 metres. Metal bands were fitted around the hollow at some point to stop it splitting further, a repair rather than a sign of trouble; Wikipedia describes it as showing excellent condition and vitality. Local tradition puts it at roughly 1,200 years old, which would make it one of the oldest living things in Spain, though nobody has backed that figure with a ring count. In 2007 Spain's environment ministry gave it the national award for the country's longest-lived tree anyway, and in 2020 it reached the top ten of European Tree of the Year. The Government of Navarre declared it a Natural Monument in 1991. A waymarked circular walk between the village and the hermitage passes right by it. If you know of a study that has actually dated it, tell us.

Species
Holm Oak (Quercus ilex)
Girth
7.7 m
Location
Paraje de La Laguna, on the east slope of the Dos Hermanas hill, between Mendaza and the Ermita de Santa Coloma, Mendaza, Navarre (Countryside outside Mendaza village)
Access
Free, open countryside. Reached on foot along the path between Mendaza village and the Ermita de Santa Coloma; a waymarked circular hiking route passes the tree. No indication of private land or restricted access.
Getting there
Rural, in Navarre's Berrueza valley; no public transport confirmed to Mendaza, reachable by car. Nearest town of any size is Estella-Lizarra.

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