| On the road that leads down to Tricase Port, next to the Church of Madonna Del Carmine (Our Lady of Carmine), you can see one of the oldest trees in Italy: a huge Valonia Oak, which may well date back to the 12th century. The tree is known as the “Oak of 100 horsemen”, and is situated close to a wood called “Falanita” (the word for oak in local dialect). The oak is about 19m high and its branches cover a diameter of more than 30m; it measures over 7m at the base of the trunk. The “Oak of the 100 horsemen” is not the only tree of its kind to be found in Salento, there are other isolated examples, or small clusters, in the countryside around Tricase, Tricase Port, Marina Serra and Marina di Novaglie. In the Falanita wood in the Finocchiara district there are 45 examples of trees which are around 700 years old. The Valonia Oak is widespread in the Balkan area (Albania, Greece and Turkey) and as well as in Salento can also be found in Asia Minor (Palestine). For the town of Tricase it was a source of development and population growth, since tannin can be extracted from the acorn which was used for tanning leather. The wood could be used for making boats and furniture thanks to its strength and sturdiness. Because of its rarity in Italy, the tree in Tricase has been declared as a protected botanic specimen. |