Thessaloniki: The historical pine tree of Eptapyrgio is being removed

“Unfortunately, we have to remove it, because it cannot withstand…” the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki ruled today about the large pine tree that “has its own history” at the entrance Eptapyrgiou. The tree, in front of the guardhouse and around which a part of the modern history of Thessaloniki unfolded, the one that stood as a sleepless guard a few meters from the entrance to the prisons now bends before Time, from an “…extremely disturbed physiology that affects the its stability… as there is no feasible way to deal with the rot of the log nor the attack by wood-eating insects…’

What if he has lived 130 years; what if Christians, Muslims and Jews, horses, old carts, and the first model cars passed under his shadow? What if the “freaks” and “freaks” of the Upper City once “…grew up and hurt and fought” next to him? What if the only tree they had outside the prison, a sign of life in their day, criminal and political prisoners of Jedi Kule? What if the Ephorate of Antiquities and Forestry of Thessaloniki tried to save it with care and pruning?

The big pine unfortunately has to be removed. “…The above (rotting, wood-eating insects, etc.) make its life span and its static behavior unpredictable, especially during the development of extreme weather phenomena…” estimates the latest report of the Forest Service. Even this solution of supporting the remaining trunk by mechanical means was deemed unfeasible due to its shape, slope, height and location.

Ephorate of Antiquities of the City, Department of Forestry, Institute of Forestry Research and Municipality of Thessaloniki: All for a… pine tree

“The old tree – which counts, as everything shows, in reverse the days of its life – is an integral part of the monumental ensemble of the fortress and an attractive element of its cultural landscape. Old photographs testify to its eternally dominant presence to this day.

Through a series of photographs, the gradual reduction of its count can be seen, while in 2012, a sudden and silent breaking of a large branch caused damage to the roof of the outpost and a general mobilization for the state of its health and its subsequent safe living….” it says in its newsletter the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City.

In the last 10 years, as it appeared, the Ephoria and the Forestry Department silently fought the battle for the safe extension of its presence… Keep it. To save it. And as they should all these years the forest officials came down frequently to assess its health and physical condition as well as the other trees near the monuments, but now they say that there is no other solution. In his last and broad interdisciplinary meeting “…in which all the facts were taken into account they decided that the removal of the historical tree in question is unfortunately inevitable…

However, not all is lost… Where the historical pine of Eptapyrgio bends without … done when it is removed. And they responded to nature, history and the environment that this “breath” of Thessaloniki that comes directly from the end of the 19th century, can have a new opportunity, a continuation. 9 years ago. And they planted, they say, a young pine sapling, an offer from the Municipality, in order to “prepare the successor situation, and if nothing else, not to dramatically alter the landscape of the monument…”

RES-EMP

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