A total of 675 people took part in the voting. Mezhirytska Shovkovytsia (24.8% of votes) in Sumy Oblast and “Stolitnya sosna” (24% of votes) in Volyn were in second place by a small margin.
«The Millennium Oak» — the oldest tree of the Lviv Region, which took root on the territory of the local church of Michael in the village of Verin. In 1984, the old oak was given the status of a botanical monument. The tree has several hollows, one of which is so large that it resembles a cave. This tree really impresses with its mighty size.
The girth of the tree is 8.5 m. The height is about 18 m. The area of the monument is 0.05 ha. In 2010, at the “National Tree of Ukraine” competition, an old oak tree in the village of Veryn is recognized as the oldest tree in Lviv Region.
Oksana Marchyshyn, a specialist in youth, sports and tourism in the Rozvadiv village council of the Stryi district, presented the tree for the competition.
«Andriy Zhila, the head of the landscape park “Stilske Gorbohirya” told me about the competition. He knew that on the territory of our community grows such a tree that can win. The contest interested me, I wanted more people to know about our Oak.
Agreed with the local government of the community and decided to submit our Oak to the competition. Oak needs treatment. About 2 years ago, we tried to use the project to attract funds for the treatment and arrangement of the fence, but we did not win. We are sure that the victory in the international competition can contribute to this in the future» — says Oksana Marchyshyn.
In 1917, there was a school of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen in Veryn. The soldiers immortalized the old tree in a photo, which was later used as an image for a postcard.
There is a legend that the Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi used to stay near this tree. Locals also tell about another, seemingly real, story. During the Second World War, a sniper sat in the hollow and prevented the crossing of the Dniester River from being established. The next day, Soviet spies exposed and captured him and subjected him to terrible torture.
The NGO “Ekosphere” is sincerely grateful to everyone who took part in the voting! We will need your support very soon, when the Ukrainian oak will compete with the best competing trees in Europe!
As one of our participants, Olga Medvedyuk, noted: “We sincerely believe that someday such trees will be under greater care and will not be covered with paving stones! We are fighting for the life of trees in our community.”
We will remind you that last year the Ukrainian apple-colony from the Sumy Region took 3rd place at the international competition «European Tree of the Year».
You can view the award ceremony from last year by following the link.
You can view the award ceremony from last year by following the link.
