Le Colosse du Nivernais

Vielmanay

Standing alone at the edge of a pond, at the place called La Mie-au-Roy in the commune of Vielmanay, this pedunculate oak bears a nickname to match its stature: the Colossus of the Nivernais. With a girth of more than nine metres measured at 1.50 metres from the ground, it holds the title of the largest oak recorded in Burgundy, for a total height of 26 metres and a trunk free of branches for nearly five metres before spreading into a powerful, fluted crown. Its age, estimated at three or four centuries at the very least, may well be greatly underestimated, so exceptional has its open-grown development been, favoured by the absence of forest competition and the proximity of water. Its former name, the "chêne de la potence" (gallows oak), evokes a darker past and suggests that it was once used as a pollard or as a landmark for the local seigneurial justice. Today covered in places with ivy, showing a few internal cavities but still vigorous foliage, this discreet giant of the Nivernais continues to dominate the countryside far from the crowds, seen only by walkers who take the paths around the neighbouring pond.

Getting there : Place known as La Mie-au-Roy, commune of Vielmanay, Nièvre, some 20 km from Nevers

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

Ambient sound