Perkūnas’s Oak is the oldest
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
tree in
Plungė
Plungė (; Samogitian: ''Plongė''; ) is a city in Lithuania with 17,252 inhabitants. Plunge is the capital of the Plungė District Municipality which has 33,251 inhabitants (2022). Two parts of the city are separated by the Babrungas River and ...
Mansion Park – grows in the central area of the park next to
Oginskis Palace. The diameter of Perkūnas’s Oak is 1.65 m, while its height is 25 m. The tree was declared a natural monument in 1960, and since 1987 it has been a natural monument of national significance.
History
The tree itself is not only culturally significant, but also the myths and legends that surround it. It is told that during pagan times, the priestess Galinda kept an eternal holy flame burning there. When her beloved left for war with the Teutonic Order and did not return, the woman cried her eyes out. An old priest began comforting her, saying that only the holy flame could put out her earthly love. Thunder appeared in the sky and a bolt of lightning was fired into a nearby oak. The priest then saw a flower growing inside the hollowed tree. Therefore, the oak was given the name of
Perkūnas
Perkūnas (, , Old Prussian: ''Perkūns'', ''Perkunos'', Sudovian language, Yotvingian: ''Parkuns'', Latgalian language, Latgalian: ''Pārkiuņs'') was the common Baltic languages, Baltic List of thunder gods, god of thunder, and the second m ...
, and it is said that the tree is so strong that no earthly forces can harm it.
In the historical memoirs of Plungė residents, suggestions are found that
Michał Mikołaj Ogiński's wife Maria used to organise performances for children under Perkūnas’s Oak.
Gallery
File:Perkūno ąžuolas.jpg
File:Perkūno ąžuolas (2).jpg
File:Perkuno azuolas.jpg
File:Perkūno ąžuolas 37 AB.jpg
File:Perkūno ąžuolas 38 AB.jpg
References
Sources
[{{Cite web, url=http://www.turistopasaulis.lt/perkuno-azuolas/, title=Perkūno ąžuolas - lankytina vieta Plungėje, date=2014-01-13, website=Turizmas Lietuvoje, language=lt-LT, access-date=2020-02-26]
Individual trees in Lithuania
Plungė