Recently I moved to Malinska, island Krk, Croatia. It is the 1st or the 2nd biggest island of more than 1000 Croatian islands. In Europe, only Greece has more islands than Croatia. My grandfather was born in one of the villages on the island so, in a way, I have even some family roots here but till now I have never really lived on the island, always on the land. Krk is also one of the rare islands in Croatia which is connected with a bridge to the land which was built in the time of Yugoslavia when Marshal Tito was still alive & who managed to successfully fight the German Nazis & the Italian Fascists & unite all the Southern Slavs (except Bulgarians) under one nation. We were strong back then & this bridge that they built to connect Krk with land was in that time the longest bridge of that type in the world - this is the proof how strong Yugoslavia was & how united we stood. But in that time I was not even born & I was just listening to the stories of older people.
Anyway lets get back to my pilgrimage...
I am a true Nature lover. I don't eat meat for more than 12 years now nor fish for 8 years now. Here & there I eat some cheese & eggs cause I love cheese & I consider that no one needs to be killed for cheese. I also spend at least 6 months per year wandering the Croatian forests & wilderness, foraging, hunting mushrooms & wild plants, making educational videos & shoot photos of some extraordinary natural sight & beings.
I had been listening for years about the 2 great giant oak trees growing on this beautiful island but I have never witnessed their magnificence so I decided to finally visit them. This is how they look:
From this point this one even doesn't look so big but when you come near, you realize how big it really is!
Try hugging the trees! It's really special therapeutic feeling!
Why do I admire so much these trees?!
Not only for their greatness but also for their history, their "roots" which are very tightly connected with many ancient Slavic, German, Celtic & Scandinavian tribes' religions & beliefs. To these tribes oak trees were sacred & they never cut them for no special reasons. To these tribes oak trees were something like banyan trees to Hindu people today & it is a miracle how the Hindu people preserved their connection to banyans for thousands of years! Unfortunately, European tribes were not so lucky cause of the violent Roman-Christian influence where often the old beliefs were threatened by death if the believers didn't want to get baptized & discard the old religion traditions. But also, fortunately, some of the traditions were preserved after all, in the highlands of Alps - Northern Italy, Western Austria but also in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, Russia & little bit in other smaller Slavic countries.
Oak trees are something like the forest gold !
Usually, in Europe, oak trees are those who grow biggest & largest of all other trees in forests. They also bear loads of fruit (seeds) in the form of acorns (oak nuts) which are food both for humans & animals. From these oak fruits, even today, flour is being made & it is one of the highly price kinds of flour rich in nutritional ingredients like fats, proteins, vitamins & minerals. Every year the oak trees give loads of fruits which fall on the ground & can be easily picked. These acorns are also food for many forest animals & what humans or animals don't eat, is left on the ground for mushrooms & bacteria to rot & enrich the soil again with all these ingredients so that the trees also get the food they need.
Except food, oaks were giving the best wooden material!
Oak wood is one of the best wooden materials of all wood, comparable with mahogany & ebony. For example, in one of the Croatian most rich regions called Slavonia, we have the best quality oak wood probably in the world which price goes very high. So, oak wood was used to build houses & many other things & you can still find wooden houses 200-300 years old & maybe even more which are usable & people still live in them. Also, recently we had 2 very strong earthquakes in Croatia in 2020. Many concrete-stone-brick houses were completely destroyed in those earthquakes but the wooden houses are firmly still standing & with not even a scratch from the earthquakes! Ships were also made from oak wood. The barrels for wine, brandy, whiskey & some other alcoholic drinks were also made from oak wood. It's because of high percent of tannin which the oaks contain - this wood is water-resistant & the fungus nor worms cannot easily destroy it cause the don't like tannin. & this tannin give the color to brandies & whiskeys. To make fire, the oak wood is also the best cause it gives a lot of heat & burns slowly cause of the density of the fibers. There are also oaks who have fallen in the lakes or rivers deep in the mud under pressure & stayed there for thousands of years. Only once I've seen a chair made of this fossilized oak wood - it is one of the hardest materials ever!
The other giant is just 100 m away & here are some portraits of him:
I wonder how is it possible that all the other oaks were cut but these two on the whole island were never cut?! It's unbelievable how the islanders agreed all together not to cut these two. Or maybe it was a private forest so the owner decided not to touch them ever?! Close to the both trees there are several small lakes, more like ponds. It is believed that these trees are more than 400 years old. I could make very diverse conclusions about this small area with 2 giant oak trees & many nearby ponds, the old Croatian-Slavic beliefs but all of them would just be theories & speculations, so I would rather leave that you - the readers & visitors to my blog.
Interesting facts of the island Krk
The stories say that life on the islands was always harder than that on land. There was always the lack of water & droughts & with them the lack of food too. But fortunately, there was always fish to catch. An interesting thing about these island oak forest & the islanders was again a very special connection & very sustainable relationship. The islanders would never cut the whole trees down, only the thicker branches & also not all of them! Do you understand what I mean? In my photos you can see how many thick branches each of the giants have! The forest around them has a lot of oak trees which are also big, but not as big as these two. Almost on all of other trees you can see that in the past the branches were cut so that treetop was formed in very recognizable shapes. The main trunk was never cut!
Croatian noble family of the island Krk
One of the most famous & most powerful Croatian noble families of all time were Frankopani. They were ruling the island 500-600 years & were successfully fighting all the terrorist oppressors - Venetians, Austrians, Hungarians & Turks - who all wanted a piece of their lands & other Croatian lands. Unfortunately, they were serving under the Habsburgs, Austrian royal family, & in one point they were accused, along with another Croatian noble family Zrinski for high treason by the Habsburgs. The heads of those two noble families were then invited in Vienna by the Habsburgs for the trial. Cause they were really noble & proud & loyal to the crown, they went to Vienna & expected the fare trial. But there was no trial at all! The Habsburgs just cut their heads & seized their lands. Frankopan & Zrinski families managed to preserve Croatian culture for many years despite the terror & nationalism of the oppressors who have surrounded them from all sides. After they were brutally killed by the Habsburgs, to who they were loyal & defended them from the Turks for many years, Croatian people was given even more moral & will to stay Croatian no matter what happens! They took the sacrifice for all of us so that we can learn to appreciate ourselves & our culture!
Recently I've seen this beautiful cartoon called "Wolfwalkers"
Why do I mention it?!
Film plot is situated in Ireland approx. 400 years ago, I guess when Ireland still had forests & wolves. Just while the English royal family tried to win the Irish territory by terror & oppression. But the Irish people gave them the strongest resistance of, I guess, all the nations before & later conquered, plundered, raped & killed by the English royal family worldwide. The interesting is the fact that the Irish people, along with Welsh & some nowadays people living in the French territory of Brittany, are the only living & direct descendants of Celts! In this cartoon you will see the truthful monstrosities committed by the English beasts over the people, animals, plants & land. You will also see the oak trees & the almost lost connection between the people & these majestic trees & other powerful forest spirits.
Thank you very much for visiting my blog & reading this post. I hope you've enjoyed. You're welcome to upvote it if you like it & comment, of course, but also you can follow me for more similar posts. I will be highly grateful for whatever you do! Thanks again!
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