The grandest tree in Poland grows in Świętokrzyskie. Bartek, which is a diminutive, childish form of a Bartholemew, is an oak tree that remembers times of the first polish dynasty, the Piasts. Moreover, legends associate its beginning with the first ruler of Poland, Mieszko.
The first look at Bartek’s wide limbs spreading for almost 40 metres shows us that it is an extraordinary tree. Stories and legends connected to him only confirm this opinion. It hides secrets, maybe even from the pagan times, when oaks were tended by druids in sacred grows. They were thought to be the trees of the god of lighting – Perun or Perkun.
In a shadow of Bartek polish kings and queens rested, but also not so do gooders like mean ruffians, for instance. The polish soldiers taking part in uprisings during times of Partition were led here as well, unfortunately to their doom.
The oak is attended by the nearest unit of State Forests in cooperation with Zagnańsk municipality. Attempts are made by specialist from all over Poland to reproduce Bartek.
Near the ancient tree we actually see his young offspring called Bartuś. It is even more diminutive form of Bartholomew. But it is not the only son of a famous polish oak that can be found here. Next to car park there is young tree grown from an acorn of the Chrobry, which is the oldest oak in Poland.
Zagnańsk was also a place of a great palaeontological discovery mentioned even in Nature magazine. The footprints of the first four-legged creature, named in latin, tetrapod, that moved out from the water environment to the land were found here. The mud the animal walked into turned to rock and thanks to the work of Piotr Szrek and Grzegorz Niedźwiecki it was confirmed those footprints were the oldest in the world.
After seeing Bartek we can take a ride and visit Kielce, or follow traces of a polish nobelist Henryk Sienkiewicz known internationally for his novel set in times of Roman Emperor Nero – Quo Vadis. The author used to spend his time in near palace turned into an unit of the Polish National Museum dedicated to Sienkiewicz.