Old oak

According to the data of the Tourist Organization of Bela Palanka, the conscious oak in the village of Divljana is the oldest living creature in the Balkans, since it was planted 1,026 years ago. The data that that organization has at its disposal show that the incredibly long-lived tree was planted by the subjects of the Macedonian emperor Samuel. CEO of that organization, Miloš Lilic, stated that Bela Palanka will try to get official confirmation from the competent institutions in the coming months that the wild oak will be the oldest in the Balkans. Without official recognition or with it, the oak has fascinated visitors for years because it resists time, even though only the ""armor"", ie only the bark, remains of its tree. The votive oak, two meters in diameter and 6.35 meters in circumference, from the access road looks like any other giant tree - a huge tree and a huge leafy canopy, however, on the opposite side of the road, at the bottom of the tree is a large hole. five people can enter the bush at the same time, and all of them will see a hollowed-out trunk and a piece of the sky above them. The Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia said that the age of sessile oak is estimated at over 700 years, but that the exact number of years cannot be determined. ""There are no reliable methods to determine his age, especially when you consider his condition - a huge cavity and a little healthy cambium. A system of reliable determination of the age of trees (with Presler's drill) is not possible in this case "", they stated in the Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia. The experts of the institute estimate that, considering the dimensions and appearance of the oak, the cavity on the tree was formed several decades ago. Until about ten years ago, the inhabitants of Divljana wore “litia” around the oak and cut a cake on the feast of the Holy Trinity, but then this tradition was interrupted because mostly old people remained in the village.