Proud witnesses of events related to the Greek Revolution of 1821 or the Turkish rule, there were many trees in Greece that most often "tell" bloody stories, since militants were hanged from their branches. These monumental trees were the subject of the work of the student of the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management of the Agricultural University of Athens, Nikos Belehas, in the course of assistant professor Georgios Fotiadis. "The student, who is in his 4th year, relied on folklore and the little other information that exists about the monumental trees where estimates are mainly made for their age," explained Mr. Fotiadis.
Mr. Belehas identified in his research such monumental trees in 36 areas and they are detailed:the plane tree of Botsaris in Kefalovrysos in Evrytania, the plane tree of Leontitus in Argithea, the plane trees in Kompotades, the privet of Karaiskakis in Arachova, the tree of Papaliavas in Etoloakarnania, the holly of Agios Georgios Amaliada, the oak of Doriza, the sycamore in Mavrolithari, the Turkish sycamore in the settlement of Trichoni, the oak in Agios Floros, the sycamore of Nafplio, the sycamore of Dimitsana, the plane of the priest Prinos in Crete, the sycamore tree in Agios Floros, the historic olive tree in Nafplio, the century-old olive trees in Dimaini, the Fourkolia tree in Sitia, the Grambela olive tree in Anisaraki Chania, the Drygias of Mandaleni (oak) in the area of Heraklion, the Splantzias sycamore tree in the city of Chania , the plane tree in Kyparissia, the olive tree of Orsa in Salamis, the olive tree in Chora Trifylia, the plane tree in the Holy Monastery of Agia Lavra, the plane tree of the Five Virgins in Rethymno, the olive tree in the village of Palaia Roumata in Crete, the fig tree in the Garden of Chania, the plane tree of Pausanias in Agios, the plane tree in Arta, the cypress tree in Prasia Evrytania, the memorial tree of Athanasios Diakos in Phocis, the plane tree in Vlatos Chania, the plane tree of Taxiarchis in Lesvos , the plane trees of Ano Poroi in Serres, the plane trees in Veria and the plane tree in Orfani.
"Historical" trees of N. Greece
As the head of the Department of Greenery of the Municipality of Veria Panagiotis Madratzis reports to APE-MPE, two old plane trees of the city of Veria, which have been classified as Preserved Natural Monuments by Official Gazette (590/B/1977) are growing in Clock Square and Kentrikis Street ( opposite the Old Metropolis of Veria). "In the first, the Turks hanged Zisis Karadimos and his sons Vassilis and Dimitris, after a battle in Arapitsa of Naoussa, an event for which there is an informative sign on the tree. Also, under the plane tree, the people of Veriot welcomed the liberating Greek Army in 1912.
On the second plane tree, where there is also a relevant sign, Metropolitan Arsenios was hanged during the occupation of Veria by the Turks", says Mr. Madratzis, clarifying that as officially recognized Preserved Natural Monuments, they are managed by the competent Forestry Department, in collaboration with the municipality of Veria. Stergios Kalesis, owner of a traditional guest house in the area, mentioned the stories that accompany the centuries-old plane trees of Ano Porroi.
"The impressive trees played a decisive role in the removal of the Turkish population, which had moved further south to Kato Porroia (Asia Mahala, as it was called then). Wanting to have access to the waters of the Ano Porroi, which were crucial for irrigation and the operation of the watermills, he tried to resettle, but the locals with their myths about the existence of elves - fairies that lived in the springs and the plane trees, prevented them!", he narrates. , adding that "younger residents, with our regret, are asking for their strict pruning or cutting after they built houses next to them after the fact and now they are bothering them". A memorial tree in Northern Greece, as recorded in the paper, also exists in Orfani Kavala where, according to tradition, monks from the metochi of the Dionysos monastery were hanged, during the Revolution of 1821, on a plane tree that still exists.
Platania are the most monumental trees
According to Nikos Belehas, the largest percentage, of the order of 53%, of the monumental trees are plane trees, followed by olives (Oleaeuropaea, 19%), oaks (Quercus, 11%), holly (Quercuscoccifera, 8%) and just a cypress (Cupressussempervirens), a juniper (Juniperusfoetidissima) and a fig (Ficuselastica). "Perhaps the most important could be considered the plane tree of the Holy Monastery of Agia Lavra, under which the oath (liberty or death) was taken by the Old German of Patras for the start of the Revolution, on March 23, 1821.
Other such important trees of the Revolution are the plane tree of Botsaris in Kefalovryso, Evrytania, where during the battle of the same name Markos Botsaris was mortally wounded, and the privet of Karaiskakis, located in the church of Agios Georgios in Arachova, Boeotia, where tradition states that it was the hiding place of Karaiskakis during the Revolution of 1821".
However, it is "stories of rivalry between the two peoples that are mainly 'narrated' by most of the trees identified", says the researcher, citing as an example the plane tree in Agios Floros, Messinia, where "during the 17th and 18th centuries the Turks carried out extensive Christian hangings, the Arabs in 1825 hanged Giannis Flessas, brother of Papaflessas, but also according to the memoirs of Fotakos, in this plane tree Kolokotronis found six babies, who had been left by their mothers to escape the hunt of " Arapadon", as he typically states.
However, Mr. Belehas also cites examples, at least of a few trees that "show the coexistence, the "common path" or even the well-being of the two peoples, such as the fig tree that is in the Municipal Garden of Chania and was created by order of Reouf pasha with an abundance of foreign species, like this specific species, which is supposed to have been planted in 1870". "Folklore could not be missing," he continues, "and stories of love and romance such as that of Orsa's olive tree." "This olive tree got its name from a girl, Orsa, who in the 17th century fell in love with a Turk while she was married and when her husband found out, he killed her."
RE-RES SOURCE