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

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and is located in

Antsla Parish Antsla Parish () is a rural Municipalities of Estonia, municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. Settlements ;Town Antsla ;Small boroughs Kobela, Estonia, Kobela - Vana-Antsla ;Villages Anne, Estonia, Anne - Antsu - Haabsaare - Jõepera, Võru C ...

Võru County Võru County ( or ''Võrumaa''; ) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga and Põlva counties, Latvia's Alūksne and Ape municipalities, and Russia's Pskov Oblast (making it the only Estonian county to border two countries) ...

. 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 insurgency waged by Baltic states, Baltic (Latvian partisans, Latvian, Lithuanian partisans, Lithuanian and Estonian partisans, Estonian) partisans against the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1956. Known ...

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

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

. 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. 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 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 European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other We ...

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