If trees could talk… they’d tell of the miracles and catastrophes that have taken place beneath their boughs.

Pinocchio’s Oak

In a park near Capannori in Tuscany there’s a 600-year-old tree that’s a monument not only to history, but also to literature. It was under this 24-metre oak that Carlo Collodi wrote several chapters of The Adventures of Pinocchio. The tree was the inspiration for several specific scenes. It was near the Big Oak in the story that Pinocchio met the Fox and the Cat. He was also hung from its branches by the robbers. But what’s interesting is that today the tree is known in the area not as Pinocchio’s Oak, but as the Witches’ Oak. Supposedly witches used to meet by it and dance wildly among its branches, giving them their incredible shapes.

Illustration by Cyryl Lechowicz

Caesar’s Yew

Under this tree in the historic Belgian town of Lo, Julius Caesar himself is said to have taken a snooze more than 2000 years ago, in a break between conquests. Researchers say a road ran nearby during Roman times. The yew itself may also be equally ancient. And while there really isn’t any evidence that Caesar was ever here, the yew has never denied it.

Illustration by Cyryl Lechowicz

Saved from the glare of a thousand suns

Hibakujumoku is Japanese for ‘surv