Located in the small French farming village of Allouville-Bellefosse,
France, is an ancient oak tree, whose hollowed out trunk is home to two
small chapels, reached by a spiral staircase surrounding the truck. How old the tree is exactly is
the subject of some debate but it is without doubt the oldest known tree
in France. Sometime in the 1600's, the tree was struck by lightening effectively hollowing out the trunk. Yet instead of dying, each year new leaves would form and the tree would produce acorns in abundance.
In 1669, the priest of Allouville , Abbot Du Droit and father Du Cerceau
decided to build a chapel in the already big and hollow oak, with a
small altar with an image of the Virgin Mary. The chapel was dedicated
to "Our Lady of Peace ". Later on, a second chapel was added above and a spiral staircase was built around the tree, to provide access to both chapels.
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| Photo credit: FRBC on Flickr |
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| Photo credit: P. Biron |
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| Photo credit: P. Biron |
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| Christopher Kiciak - LINK |
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| Photo credit: Luc Doudet |
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