BARTEK TREE

Bartek Polish: Bartholomew is an ancient oak tree in Poland. It grows in Zagnańsk near Kielce in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. Its age, previously estimated at up to 1200 years, has recently been established to be 650–670 years, with a corer used to extract a sample for a ring count. An accurate count is impossible, as Barter’s interior has hollowed with age. There are several older trees in Poland, both oaks and use some over 1000 years old, yet none of them has matched Barter’s fame.

The 30-metre tall Bartek measures 13.5 metres in girth at its base. Its crown spreads about 40 metres. King Casmir 1310–1370 is known to have held court under Bartek. King Jan III Sobieski rested under the oak on his way back from the Battle of Vienna (1683). He reputedly hid a Turkish sabre, a harquebus and a bottle of wine inside it to commemorate the victory.

The oak is still alive, but is in decline. In 1829 it had 14 main branches, today only 8 are left. In the 1920s the hollow inside the trunk was covered with limestone. The limestone was removed in the 1960s, replaced with resin-based filling and covered with bark. The living sapwood is very thin (5–20 cm). The weakened trunk has begun to lean toward the heavy branches.

“Bartek” oak which, according to various sources, is between 700 and 1000 years old, belongs to the most famous and most widely admired monuments of nature in Poland. The legend has it that Polish kings, Boleslaw Krzywousty, Kazimierz Weekly or Jan III Sobieski (said to have hidden royal treasures in the hollow of the mighty oak) used to rest in its shade.

The old “Barter’s” measurements are pretty impressive: it is 30 m tall and its circumference and diameter are 10 m and over 3 m respectively. Right next to it grows “Barter’s” offspring, a young oak, which was planted during the celebrations of the 1000 years of the Polish State.