Seasons1 of 4
This tree was planted to mark where one person's land stopped and the next person's began. Service trees did that job across this part of Europe: long-lived, easy to recognise from a distance, and a signal to anyone reading the ground that the soil here was good enough for fruit. Two and a half centuries on, the boundary is a footnote and the tree is the landmark. It is about 250 years old, which puts its planting in the reign of Maria Theresa, and it measures 295 centimetres round and 14 metres tall. It still fruits, and generously: large pear-shaped fruit, pinkish-yellow, ripening in the middle of October. In 2019 it won Strom roka, Slovakia's national tree of the year vote, and went on to represent the country in the European Tree of the Year contest. By how much it won depends on who you ask. Ekopolis, which runs the contest, records 6,710 votes; the regional news site Rimava reported over 10,000. Neither figure has been reconciled with the other. One naming note worth carrying with you: Sorbus domestica is the service tree, a different species from the wild service tree it gets muddled with. It stands on open ground in the Lapoňa area of the village, free, no gate. Nearest hub is Rimavská Sobota, then a regional bus.
From people who stood here
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Getting there
Lapoňa area, Uzovská Panica village
You can recognise it by its large, pinkish-yellow pear-shaped fruit, ripening in mid-October. It stands alone on open farmland in the Lapoňa area of Uzovská Panica village.
Free, standing in open farmland/village ground (a boundary tree historically marking property lines), no ticket or booking needed.
Uzovská Panica village, Rimavská Sobota District; nearest railway/bus hub is Rimavská Sobota, then a regional bus.
In fruit
mid-October, when the pear-shaped fruit ripens pinkish-yellow
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.