The Sapiegos Park Linden

On 18 July 2023 a storm took the top off the oldest lime in Vilnius. The arborist who examined the wreck found the trunk completely rotten inside, and a crown that earlier bad pruning had left top-heavy, which in a gale works as a lever. The tree had stood 28 metres. Roughly 11 to 12 metres of it are left. It survived. Enough of the lower trunk is sound that dormant buds were expected to break and rebuild something of a crown, and the arborist's own verdict was that it will not live another 300 years, but that our grandchildren might see new growth. Weeks after the break it was entered as a candidate in Lithuania's Tree of the Year competition, damage and all. Two trunks, 4.40 metres round measured before the storm, and an age the register puts at 300 to 350 years. Vilnius has protected it as a botanical heritage object since 29 May 1996, listed as Seniausia liepa, the oldest lime. It stands in Sapiegos parkas in Antakalnis, by the gates of the palace. This is a single stop rather than part of a walk, 2.2 km from the trees in the Old Town. The most recent detailed report on its condition is from 2023, so you may find it further gone or well on the way back. Tell us which.