Chêne de Saint-Jean

Saint-Jean-aux-Bois

Considered the oldest tree in the forest of Compiègne, and perhaps one of the oldest forest trees in France, the oak of Saint-Jean carries the weight of eight centuries of history in its gnarled, hollowed trunk. Local tradition holds that the monks of the neighbouring abbey of Saint-Jean-aux-Bois planted it in the 13th century, in the reign of Saint Louis, making it a direct witness to the royal Middle Ages. Since then the giant has lived through the centuries, the storms, the wars and the winters, but its great age and old cutting practices have weakened it: parasitic fungi have attacked its wood, a fire damaged it in 1970, and one of its main limbs collapsed in 2011. The Office national des forêts now watches over it, having made its surroundings safe to protect both visitors and the tree itself. Despite these wounds, the oak of Saint-Jean still stands, a majestic and slightly ghostly silhouette at the heart of the high forest, awarded the label of Remarkable Tree of France. To see it is to take the measure, all at once, of the fragility and the grandeur of a living thing that has watched kings, revolutions and storms pass by without ever leaving its clearing.

Getting there : Reached on foot from the village of Saint-Jean-aux-Bois, in the forest of Compiègne, by a signposted walking path leading to the oak, listed as a "remarkable tree"

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound