The lime from Leliceni won the European Tree of the Year Award
The award for European Tree of the Year was handed out in a ceremony held at the central office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Brussels on the 25th of May 2011 with the attendance of MEP Csaba Sógor. (www.treeoftheyear.org). The aim of the contest was to find the most beautiful trees in Europe and emphasize the importance of local communities’ heritage. The main criteria were the history of the tree.
Five countries entered the contest this year and the Romanian and European winner of the contest, the 500 year old lime from Leliceni, Romania was nominated by the Polgár-Társ Foundation based on the descriptive work of István Darvas. Also called the Council Tree, the lime is 20 meters high and its trunk is 3,9 meters in diameter. It was probably planted in front of the church at the beginning of the 16th century. There is little information about it. Its trunk is surrounded by wooden harrows, used by locals as benches at town meetings. The lonely tree was witness to the 1661 and 1694 attack of the Tatars and has survived several natural disasters as well: a drought that lasted for over a year and a half in 1717-18, hail in 1854 and 1871, a flood in 1864 and several fires. The age old lime is an important symbol of the area: it has been declared a natural rarity in 1992 and is on the list of protected trees of Harghita County.
- I am honestly happy for the success – said Csaba Sógor at the event. – The tree is a constant companion in man’s life and a determinant of his condition. The success of the lime from Leliceni is due to the solidarity shown back home: the nominator managed to mobilize those interested in preserving our heritage through the means of the internet and the media. The overwhelming support – the lime won the contest with a margin of 105000 votes – proves that we will be better known if we take our common values together into Europe. The opening of the Representative Office of Szeklerland in Brussels due next week serves the same purpose – declared the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania.
- I am honestly happy for the success – said Csaba Sógor at the event. – The tree is a constant companion in man’s life and a determinant of his condition. The success of the lime from Leliceni is due to the solidarity shown back home: the nominator managed to mobilize those interested in preserving our heritage through the means of the internet and the media. The overwhelming support – the lime won the contest with a margin of 105000 votes – proves that we will be better known if we take our common values together into Europe. The opening of the Representative Office of Szeklerland in Brussels due next week serves the same purpose – declared the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania.
