In the Mengen district of Bolu in northern Turkey, there is a 1,127-year-old oak tree that is considered the “oldest oak tree in Turkey.” With a height of 16 meters and a circumference of 11.4 meters, it defies the passage of time.
The oak tree with the thick branches stands on the Mamatlar village plateau in the town of Gökçesu and was officially recognized as the oldest oak tree in Turkey in 2005 by the General Directorate of Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.
The oak, which is over a thousand years old, has a diameter of 363 centimeters, a height of 16 meters and a circumference of 11.4 meters. As part of the care and restoration of monumental trees, rotting parts of the tree were removed and the surrounding area was treated with chemicals. The cleaning of the nearby grass and bush areas took six days.
Among the 18 oak species native to the country, the sapless oak is one of the most valuable; it can grow up to 30 metres tall and live up to 2,000 years.
This premium oak species ripens its acorns within a year and is located about 25 kilometers from the county center.
In Bolu and its districts of Mengen, Göynük and Mudurnu, monumental trees such as oaks, black pines, plane trees and Turkish hazelnuts, aged between 220 and 630 years, are protected.
Mehmet Bozkurt, the head of Mamatlar village, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the cleanup work around the protected oak tree and its surroundings was completed a week ago and that officials from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and the Monuments Council visited the area.
Noting that there were 30 houses on the historically significant plateau when he was a child, Bozkurt said the area lost its vitality as livestock farming declined. He expressed his intention to develop the area for tourism.
He mentioned that the roads leading to the tree are open to visitors with established coordinates and that the maintenance of these roads ensures year-round access to the site.
Bozkurt also pointed out that discussions are currently underway to surround the oak with a fence to protect it, stressing that the area must be continuously cleaned to protect the monumental tree from fires.
