What is the oldest tree in Stelmužė?
The oldest tree in Stelmužė is its oak, and it is the oldest in Lithuania: at least 1,500 years, possibly as much as 2,000. Nobody can be more precise than that, because the inside of the trunk decayed away long ago and there are no rings left to count. The hollow is large enough to have hidden things. During restoration work a rifle and a human skeleton were found inside it, believed to be a French soldier from Napoleon's retreat from Russia in 1812. Measurements depend on where the tape goes: 13 metres around at the widest point of the trunk, 9.58 metres at chest height, which is the standard forestry measurement. Total height is about 23 metres. This is a veteran being kept alive rather than a thriving oak. Fungi and moss have colonised what is left of the outer wood, the crown is long gone, and only side branches still leaf out. A Czech arborist, Martin Němec, has monitored it since 2005 under a long-term maintenance plan, new supports went in during March 2021, and a branch broke off at the end of that same month. Lithuania has put the tree on a commemorative coin and on postage stamps, and an oak raised from its acorns grows in the National Revival grove beside the birthplace of Jonas Basanavičius.
The oak stands in the old manor park beside the wooden church, in the open, in the middle of a very small village. It is a protected national natural monument and reads as an open-air village landmark rather than a ticketed site. Nothing we can find lists an entry fee or opening hours; if you meet a gate or a charge, tell us and we will fix it here. Getting there means a car. Stelmužė sits in Zarasai district in north-eastern Lithuania, close to the Latvian border, with no station and no regular bus, and Zarasai town is the nearest place to base yourself. Give the church its ten minutes while you are there: it is the oldest wooden church in the country and stands a few paces from the tree. The oak has supports under its remaining limbs and a fence around it, so the visit is a slow walk around and a long look rather than anything closer.
See more themed collections of remarkable trees.