Hundred Horse Chestnut
The Chestnut Tree of hundred horses ( Castagno dei Cento Cavalli Italian ) is a millennia- old chestnut tree on the eastern slope of Mount Etna volcano near the city Sant'Alfio in Sicily.
The sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) is located in the forest of Carpineto in the sanctuary of Mount Etna.
Several botanists have estimated the age of the tree at 2000 to 4000 years. He is widely considered to be the thickest and oldest tree in Europe.
History
The first certain mention of the chestnut tree of the hundred horses found in 1636 when Don Pietro Carrera. In his book Il Mongibello he writes of a " tree with an impressive trunk, big enough to thirty horses to accommodate inside it ."
On August 21, 1745, the Tribunale del Real Patrimonio dell'Ordine di Sicilia put the tree and the neighboring chestnut tree of the ship under protection. In view of the time ( mid 18th century ), this represents one of the first nature protection acts ever dar.
The naturalist Giuseppe Recupero has described in his major work Storia Naturale e generale dellEtna the tree in detail and tried to find evidence for the unity of the tree, since it was assumed that the tree is in reality would consist of several individual trees. He also reported a hut inside the tree, he found, however, fall on his last visit in 1766. In addition, the polymath Alberto Fortis has examined the chestnut tree. He also described the hut 1780 in Della coltura del castagno expired.
The tree was drawn by many travelers of the Grand Tour, among them Jean -Pierre Houël, who described him in his major work pittoresque Voyage de la Sicile, de Malta e Lipari in 1787 and painted. In his painting also mentioned by Recupero hut can be seen.
1923 was the tree a fire that damaged the main stem. Rumors speak of an act of revenge by some citizens of Giarre after Sant'Alfio, had acquired by then a district of Giarre, independence.
The chestnut tree was formerly owned by local noble families, who used it as a venue for gala dinners for their guests. 1965, the tree was expropriated and declared a National Monument. Only towards the end of the 20th century, local authorities have initiated a series of investigations that had the protection and preservation of the tree to the target.
The chestnut tree today
The chestnut tree is 22 meters high and has a circumference of the trunk 22 meters. In fact, the tree is now divided into three sub- strains of 13, 20 and 21 meters in circumference. There is a lively debate about whether it is in fact a single tree. The Guinness Book of World Records lists for several years on the chestnut as the thickest tree in the world, however, is a basis for the mention of 1780, which indicates the former extent of 57.9 meters.
A science program of the TV channel Rai Uno has taken DNA samples of chestnut and get checked. The results should confirm that it is in fact the tree is a single plant, and it is thus actually the tree with the largest scale in the world, even before the Arbol del Tule ( a tall cypress tree in Mexico) with a circumference of 38 meters. However, these results are controversial.
In the vicinity of the tree, about four hundred yards away, there is another, at least a thousand -year-old chestnut tree, chestnut tree of the ship. He is regarded as the second oldest tree in Italy and as the with the second largest extent. Its perimeter is 20 meters and its height is 19 meters. Also on the eastern slope of Etna, however, in the area of Park of Etna, there is a nearly thousand year old oak tree, the ' Ilice di Carrinu with a size of 4 meters and a height of 19 meters.
The Legend
The legend tells of a queen who was together with hundreds of riders and horses surprised during a hunt of a big storm and with their numerous retinue under the branches found shelter. The storm lasted until the evening, and so the queen spent the night under the leaves of the tree in the company of one or more of their lovers among the riders of her entourage.
It is unclear what might be meant by this queen, often called Johanna of Aragon, according to others, it is thereby act to Joanna I of Anjou or even to Johanna II of Anjou, who was known for her amorous excesses. Most likely arises from the legend but the popular imagination. At least the first two are probably never been to Sicily.