The thickest tree in the world is tule. Sacred tree of Tule - the thickest tree in the world, Mexico Wildlife, Unique plants. Lion on the Thule tree

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Settlement El Tule it would have been completely unremarkable if a marvelous tree had not risen near it. Its height, diameter and age cause genuine admiration. Tule tree(Spanish) Arbol del Tule , Nahuat. Ahuehuete - "old man from the water" ) - taxodium mexican, and in Russian swamp cypress, located on the square next to the church in the city Santa Maria del Tule, state Oaxaca, Mexico. The tree is known for having the thickest trunk of any tree in the world.

The age of the tree is unknown and, according to various estimates, ranges from 1200 before 3000 years, and according to one hypothesis - about 6000 years; Most often, age is given as 1433 - 1600 years. You can determine the age exactly in one way - by cutting down a tree, but no one allowed such barbarism and, hopefully, will not allow it while the tree is alive. Since it is very difficult to accept a hypothesis with an age of 6000 years, they agree on the first one. Although twice as small, it is still impressive.

At one time it was claimed that these were three fused trees, but studies of the cypress DNA confirmed that El Arbol del Tule is one tree; however, this discovery does not exclude the hypothesis of several trunks of one tree.

AT 1990 year it was suggested that the tree slowly dying due to lack of water, pollution environment and increased traffic flow next to the tree.

AT 2001 year it is included in the List world heritage UNESCO.

AT 2005 year, its trunk, according to measurements, had a circumference order 58 meters and diameter 14 meters, which is somewhat more compared to the measurement data of 1982. It will take more than a dozen people to hug such a trunk. The height of the tree is very difficult to measure due to its wide crown, but it is believed to be about 42 meters, standing behind recent decades a little lower. The height is not the highest in the world, but still impressive.

Fans of this wonderful tree even calculated its weight and volume. The first one is approximately 636 tons, and the second 816 m 3. All this information can be gleaned from a bronze tablet, which stands near the tree.

The locals even gave him a completely human name - Sabino. But cypresses, as you know, are very moisture-loving and evaporate a lot of water - and this is a tree with a crown, the shadow of which covers more 500 m 2, and should consume tons of liquid at all. So it is - it's just that its roots go into the ground to a depth of 80 meters and there they safely extract as much moisture as necessary.

The Church of Santa Maria del Tule looks like a very small building next to an evergreen giant. When on major religious holidays a procession is made around the church, the procession always goes around the tree. So the residents show respect and reverence to their pet.

Legends of El Thule

They say that under it once Cortes pitched his camp.

According to Zapotec legend, the tree was planted about 1400 years ago by a priest Ehecatla, the god of the wind, which generally corresponds to the ideas of historians, since the tree grows on the former sacred site of the Indians, which then went to the Catholic Church.

The tree has an informal nickname "the tree of life" because of the images of various animals that can supposedly be distinguished on its trunk. Numerous tourists who are brought to admire the ancient giant, the church and the quiet life of the Mexican province notice that many branches and outgrowths of the tree resemble images of animals - a lion, a deer, a turtle, a fish, a crocodile.

Local legend explains it this way. Once upon a time, the animals were friendly with each other and spoke the same language, and they had one enemy - a merciless, treacherous and strong man. One night they gathered in a cave and complained to their patron god Pitao, the lion, the deer, the crocodile, the snake, the elephant, and the tortoise murmured especially loudly.

Pitao advised his four-legged friends be fast, strong and very careful. With which the animals left, but they did not go very far - they began to be surrounded by hunters. Then a nearby tree, in the roots of which an underground river flowed, shouted: “Hide quickly in my branches!” The animals did just that. The hunters could not find them and kill them.

hoko- the god of hunting, patronizing people, seeing this, was terribly angry. He made it so that not a single animal could leave the tree, they seemed to have grown into it and gave their life to the tree. Pitao stood up for his friends. As a result of the dispute of the gods, many terrible events occurred - first, all animals died out in this area (at the behest of Hoko), then, at the behest of Pitao, the area turned into a hot desert. But the gods saw that hostility does not bring any joy and made concessions. Hoko freed some of the animals, the most necessary for a person: a dog, a cow, a sheep, a bull, chickens, and Pitao reduced the heat of the sun and the climate became steppe. Only a tree that fed on underground waters survived the enmity of the gods. And then the gods brought a gift to the tree - the love and protection of people. And it was called TULE – « Tu Uniras Los Enemigos» – « You unite the enemies» .

Part of the eleventh center of the Earth

The eleventh main center is in the southern part of Mexico, including the El Tule tree and Palenque, the center of androgynous balance. El Thule is located directly on the path of the Feathered Serpent. Palenque is also very important center, but it is located quite far from the world leu-artery. This large region serves to balance the feminine and masculine energies, Yin and Yang, of all kinds of life on the planet. It is from here that the macrocosmic balance of the world is controlled. The northern hemisphere carries masculine energies, while the southern hemisphere carries feminine energies. The male elements of Fire and Air have their own Spinning Wheels in the Yang hemisphere, while the female elements of Water and Earth are located in the Yin hemisphere. These and other structures have their emerging matrices in Southern Mexico.

And the Earth itself is female energies? Even though the earth called the Goddess, the answer is no. All beings on the path of spiritual evolution eventually come to a point where they become whole. And what could previously be considered a masculine or feminine quality begins to appear as a neutral one. All true qualities are eternal, they have no gender, and they are acquired by those who aspire to the Greater life. Palenque and El Thule sometimes give us a difficult lesson.

El Thule served as the world focal point for the activation of the Feathered Serpent leu artery at dawn on August 17, 1987. Prior to this, on April 22, 1984, the feminine energy, the Rainbow Serpent, was activated. When the power of the Earth of the liberated spirit of Quetzalcoatl rose from the roots of El Thule - the living tree of life, all the chakras of the planet and the spinning wheels of elemental forces began to function as a single system.

If we consider an extended circle that starts from this region centered on El Thule, this circle will reach the northeast point on the island of Yucatan. All sacred places within this circle perform the function of balancing the eleventh main center of the planet.

Publications used in the preparation of the article:
1. "Tule Tree" (Wikipedia material)
2. "Tula tree" (without author)
3. "Tule Tree in Mexico" (no author)
4. "Chakras of the Earth" (by Robert Kuhn)
5. "10 most famous trees in the world" (no author)

Watch a short overview video of the tree:

[:RU]The Tule Tree is a mighty Montezuma cypress growing in downtown Santa Maria del Tule in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Its existence has been chronicled for over 2,000 years by the Aztecs who founded the city of Oaxaca, making the Tule Tree one of oldest trees in the world. Its trunk and branches tied into knots took various forms and with a little imagination, you can see the faces of goblins, monsters and animals in them.

The Tule tree is also one of the largest trees in the world and is said to have the widest trunk. According to the measurements taken, the girth of the trunk is from 42 to 52 meters. The trunk is so wide that only thirty people (some say fifty) can wrap around it, holding hands.

The tree is also quite tall - over 40 meters. It is so high that it overshadows the main church of the city and its spiers. Its crown is so wide that it covers the central square of the city. In fact, the whole city was built around this particularly large cypress tree, where the crafts market and the church are located. All life and livelihood revolves around this tree.

Traditionally, the people of Thule made their living by mining and processing lime for sale in the city of Oaxaca. In the 20th century, most of the population became farmers, growing corn, beans, peas and alfalfa. With the onset of industrialization, Santa Maria del Tule's economy became more diverse and the tree became a center of tourism. As many as three-quarters of the city's population directly depend on the tree for their livelihood.

On the site of the town of Santa Maria del Tule, there used to be a lake surrounded by swamps, where many cypresses grew. This swamp was also covered with reeds. The lake has not survived to this day, it has dried up and the swamps too. More recently, increasing urbanization and irrigated agriculture have lowered the water table, threatening the survival of the tree.

The Tule tree in downtown Santa Maria del Tule in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Ola, amigos! My Mexican journey on the blog pages continues, and today I invite you to visit a real miracle of nature - a giant thule tree, which has the thickest trunk among all the trees that exist today. However, the point here is not only in nature: the locals, descendants of the ancient Indian tribe of Zapotecs, consider the tree sacred and attribute to it a lot of magical properties.

The fact that this tree is special becomes noticeable from afar: its immense crown covers almost half of the block with a shadow, and the church standing nearby seems just like a toy against its background.

Some encyclopedic data. breed tree taxodium mexican of the cypress family has a height of about 40 meters, a weight of more than 600 tons, and, most importantly, a trunk diameter that has reached today more than 11.5 meters and a perimeter of 36 meters is the largest result among trees living on our planet. In order to clasp the tree, you will need a chain of at least 30 people holding each other's hands. At first glance, it may seem that a giant tree is formed from the trunks of several trees fused together, but DNA analysis conducted by scientists showed that thule tree- the most that neither is a single and holistic organism.

The age of the giant tree is not known for certain: in order to establish the exact figure, it would be enough to count the number of rings in the cut of the trunk, but, as you understand, sawing the sacred tree for the Mexicans is like death. Estimates of scientists in this matter are very relative: someone gives the tree two thousand years, someone - all six! Therefore, it is possible that, apart from the fact that Thule is the thickest tree on earth, it may also be the oldest.

On all sides, the tree is surrounded by a fence - this is how the townspeople protect their shrine from ill-wishers, so it is impossible to take a picture against its background to compare the sizes. At a distance limited by metal bars, the comparative effect does not look as spectacular as it could be in close proximity from a giant tree.

FROM different sides thule tree appears before the viewer in different guises. In the photo above, for example, it is able to fit within the limits of philistine ideas, but as soon as you walk a few steps around, the tree changes, takes on new forms, stunning in its immensity. Like here for example..

Name "Thule tree" went, most likely, from the name of the city of Santa Maria del Tule, in which it is located. In the language of the ancient Indians, the tree was called differently, very, I would say, for the hearing of a Russian-speaking person in an original way - wow, which means "an old tree growing near the water." Today, the locals call the tree none other than the human name of Sabino.

Do locals and tourists have entertainment related to Thule tree - looking closely at its bark and branches, find the outlines of an animal or even a person. So, there is its own elephant, lion, crocodile, gorilla, anteater, as well as the ear of Carlos Salinas de Gortari - one of former presidents Mexico, and even the breasts of Olga Briskina, the famous Mexican violinist with Russian roots. Honestly, I know about all this only by hearsay, because in order to distinguish all of the above, you need to have a remarkable imagination. You can't do it without him, especially from such a distance! Due to the abundance of associations with animals and people thule tree often referred to as the "tree of life". Maybe that's why the locals believe that while the tree is alive, it gives life to everything around.

The Zapotecs believe that the sacred tree was planted 1400 years ago by the priest of the wind god Ehecatl, and that their Indian ancestors danced around it, charging with the energy of the cosmos. This legend reminded me of scenes from the famous movie "Avatar", not without reason they say that its director James Cameron came up with a plot not just like that, but from knowledge gleaned from various parts of the Earth.

Immediately after visiting thule tree we went to another, no less amazing place - thermal waterfalls Hierve el Agua, which I will cover in . See you soon!

How to get to the Tule Tree, Mexico

The Tule tree (Arbol del Tule) is located ten kilometers from the city at the address: 2 de Abril, Santa Maria Del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico. To get to the town of Santa Maria del Tule from Oaxaca de Juarez, you need to catch the so-called "collective taxi" - a phenomenon that I saw for the first time in the state of Oaxaca. A collective taxi is an ordinary white and burgundy passenger taxi, on the windshield of which there is a sign indicating the direction in which it follows. The difference between this taxi and the usual one is that the driver picks up the people voting on the roads, thereby stuffing the car almost to capacity: two people sit in the front passenger seat, and as many as the physical parameters of the passengers allow, without any restrictions. On the way, some passengers get off, and new ones immediately sit down in their place. The taxi you need is labeled "Tule" or "Santa Maria Del Tule". Tell the driver that you want to get off at Arbol del Tule, and he will drop you off within walking distance to the right place. One-way fare is 10 Mexican pesos ($0.7), and the journey takes about 15 minutes.

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The Tule tree (in Spanish it sounds like Arbol del Tule) grows in the middle of the city streets of the Mexican city of Santa Maria del Tule. Thule is a tree with the largest thickness on the entire planet. Its trunk is fourteen meters in diameter and forty-two meters in circumference. At first, Thule can be mistaken for the trunks of various trees fused with each other, but as DNA tests have proven, Thule is a separate tree.

The circumference of the Thule tree can be compared to the girth of thirty people who at the same time held each other's hands. The shadow formed by a tree can cover five hundred people. The tree is forty meters high and weighs about 630 tons.

According to the legend of the Mexican Indian people - the Zapotecs, the Tule tree was planted 1,400 years ago by the priest of the Aztec god of the wind, Ehecatl Pechochey. According to scientists, the information from the legend is reliable. Although in some cases the age period of a tree ranges from 3000 to 6000 years.

Local residents take care of the famous tree, watering it and trimming branches, and on the second Monday of October, the city celebrates a holiday in honor of the Tule tree.

In 2001, the Tule tree was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Thule means "sacred tree". Sometimes it is also called the "Tree of Life" because of the figures of animals (lion, elephant, crocodile, etc.), which can be seen on the trunk if desired.

Lion on the Thule tree:

Elephant:

Crocodile:

Do you want to know the name and where the most thick tree in the world? It can be seen in the Mexican city of Santa Maria del Tule, in the square near the church - this is the Tule tree. In Spanish it is called Árbol del Tule. Its unofficial nickname - the tree of life - was given to it because of those images of animals that can supposedly be seen on its trunk. Some mistakenly believe that the Thule tree grows in South America, but in fact his homeland is the northern part of the mainland.

Why is the Thule tree unusual?

This specimen of the Mexican taxodium (bog cypress), the photo of which can be seen below, is considered the thickest tree in the world. Its features are:

Tree dimensions. In 2005, a tree trunk was measured: its circumference was about 36.2 m, and its diameter was 11.62 m. The previous measurements, carried out in 1982, were slightly smaller. Due to the very wide crown, the height of the tree cannot be accurately measured. It is believed that it is approximately 35.4 m. The roots of the tree reach a depth of 80 m, and the shadow from the crown covers an area of about 500 square meters. m.
DNA tests. At first, it was believed that the Thule trunk was several trees fused together. However, the tests carried out confirmed that this is still one plant.
Age. No one knows the age of this thickest tree on Earth. Some scientists believe that it is between 1200 and 3000 years old. Others hypothesize its 6,000th anniversary. There is a Zapotec legend that says that the tree was planted 1400 years ago by the priest of Ehecatl (god of the winds). Some historians consider this version to be the only true one, since the Tule tree grows on a sacred Indian site, which later became part of the Catholic Church.
Security. In 1990, scientists made the assumption that the world's thickest Thule tree is slowly dying due to lack of water, an increase in the amount of traffic that passes by it, and also due to general environmental pollution. The Mexican government declared it a monument, and in 2001 this miracle was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Legend. The unofficial nickname Thule - the tree of life - was given to him because of those animal figures that can be seen on its trunk. And in fact, the growths and branches of the tree resemble a crocodile, fish, turtle, deer, lion. There is another Indian legend according to which old times all the animals were friends with each other, and they had only one enemy - a man who hunted them. Once listed animals turned for help to the god Pitao. And when the hunters once again discovered these animals, the tree saved them, hiding them forever under its branches.

How to get there?

Located in the vicinity of the popular tourist place. You can get to the tree itself by taxi - all local taxi drivers know where the famous Árbol del Tule is located.

As for the public, you need a “collective” minibus with a sign “Santa Maria Del Tule” or simply “Tule”. Her stop is within walking distance of giant tree, and the journey will take about 15 minutes and cost $7.