Town Hall 5
Piazza XXIV Maggio
How to get: Bus 71 | Tram 3, 10 | M2 Porta Genova
The oak tree in Piazza XXIV Maggio is a centuries-old witness to an important past, which deserves to be told.
At the end of the First World War, the Capè family wanted to honor the memory of a young son and his companions who died in the conflict by planting a tree in the main square of Ticinese.
The oak was planted in 1924 and is the oldest tree in the city to have been planted “so as not to forget”. From that year onwards, in fact, every year the "boys of '99" commemorated their dead companions by placing wreaths of flowers under the canopy of the tree.
The oak has witnessed the changes that have occurred in the city over the years, to the point of becoming an instrument for artistic and political provocations of various kinds (from the sculptor who hung some children's mannequins from its branches, to the politicians who used it to hang the puppet of the leader of the opposing party).
The windstorm that hit the city last February heavily damaged the tree, to the point of requiring a drastic reduction in the height and extension of the foliage, an increase in anchoring and a fence of the rooting area.
The plant is at the end of its life cycle, but with its trunk of 160 centimeters in diameter it still retains its grandeur intact.
in Possible interviews with the Trees of Milan the oak tree tells its story to an old gardener.
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