The Tamme-Lauri oak ( et, Tamme-Lauri tamm, vro, Tammõ-Lauri tamm) is a large common oak. It is the thickest and oldest tree in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

and is located in

Antsla Parish Antsla Parish ( et, Antsla vald) is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. Settlements ;Town Antsla ;Small boroughs Kobela - Vana-Antsla ;Villages Anne - Antsu - Haabsaare - Jõepera - Kaika - Kassi - Kikkaoja - Kirikukül ...

Võru County Võru County ( et, Võru maakond or ''Võrumaa''; vro, Võro maakund) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga County and Põlva County and is the only Estonian county bordering two countries - Latvia ( Alūksne Municipality an ...

. The height of the tree is , and the circumference is , measured from the ground. According to researchers, the tree was planted around 1326. The oak has been hit repeatedly by lightning, damaging the branches and hollowing out the center. During restoration in the 1970s an old hideout of the

Forest Brothers The Guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an armed struggle which was waged by the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian partisans, called the Forest Brothers (also: the "Brothers of the Wood" and the "Forest Friars"; et, metsavennad, lv, mež ...

was found inside the cavity. Seven people could stand inside the tree before it was filled with of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

. The tree is still viable, although it has lost its top because of the lightning strikes. The name of the Tamme-Lauri oak comes from the Tamme-Lauri farm, which in turn got its name from the spirit that was thought to live in the oak, bringing bad and sometimes good luck. It was the spirit of fire called

Laurits Laurits is a masculine given name, a Danish and Estonian variant of the Scandinavian Lauritz, related to the English names Laurence and Lawrence. It may refer to: *Laurits, fire god related to St. Lawrence in Estonian mythology Given name * H ...

. The Tamme-Lauri oak is depicted on the reverse of the Estonian ten kroon banknote. The land where the tree is located was bought by Estonian

Ministry of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

in 2006 and the oak has been under protection since 1939. The Tamme-Lauri oak tree took part in the 2016

European Tree of the Year The European Tree of the Year is an annual contest held to find the most 'loveable tree' in Europe. The contest is held by the Environmental Partnership Association (EPA), an organization supported by the European Land Owners Association and the ...

competition as a representative of Estonia, where it told the story of the legend that the tree started growing from a carriage part that a Swedish king hit into the ground.''2016 - the story of Tamme-Lauri oak''
/ref> Tamme-Lauri Tamm suvel.jpg, Tamme Lauri tamm.jpg, Tamme-Lauri tamm suvepäeval.jpg, Tamme-lauri tamm õhtuvalguses.jpg, Tamme-Lauri tamm.jpg, Tamme-Lauri tamm2.JPG, Tammelauri Tamm..JPG, 10-1991b.jpg, The oak on the Estonian ten kroon banknote

References

{{coord, 57, 55, 2, N, 26, 34, 36, E, display=title Individual oak trees Antsla Parish Forests of Estonia Individual trees in Estonia Tourist attractions in Võru County

See also

References