Rôl dal Nono Carli - the story of an old oak tree

Active

19 May 2019

Active

Rôl dal Nono Carli - the story of an old oak tree

It is a symbol. An old oak tree on the sides of the morainic hills of Friuli. On nights with a full moon, it can observe everything, the "Piccola Patria", from above its roots and when the sky is clear, it can see the Marano lagoon with its flashing lights.

Rol dal Nono Carli has lived through wars and earthquakes. It was there when houses had no electricity and drinking water had to be collected in buckets by going down the one hundred steps that led to the river Urana. It saw the disappearance of the old village of Cragnolin above Magnano in Riviera and the birth and growth of Ronc del vecchio Carli.

For years, it has observed the life of that solitary man who wandered in the Fait woods, a green rucksack and a double-barrelled shotgun over his shoulders, with a proud Cecco Beppe-type moustache and Paul Newman's blue eyes. He hunted wild boars and went shrimp fishing when, as a "young" poacher and old miner who had emigrated to Belgium, he returned to his place of birth to die in the woods. He picked wild asparagus and lived with his dog and his beloved birds. He was the only one who lived in the woods after the earthquake in 1976. He hadn't wanted to go down to Tarcento and had continued to live in his woods, under the ancient oak tree, in an old sheet- metal box until his ill health had driven him, a hermit, to other forests higher up.

The oak tree had been named after that impetuous and solitary old man, who had chosen it almost as his abode but, above all, as a symbol of an event at the end of the Second World War. Under it, every year, he celebrated the “Non-shooting” of all the inhabitants of the village of Cragnolin. During the last few months of the war, a raking by the Nazi SS had led the inhabitants, more than 50, of that village, to go before the altarpiece of the Madonna of Billerio, but the Nazi leader, who had miraculously survived an attack by the partisans, had spared those poor people, unexpectedly stopping them from being executed.
His wife, children and many relatives and friends were among those people. So, every year, Carli celebrated 4th January under the large oak tree, in remembrance of that miracle at the end of the war. The old oak tree has always been grateful to the old man for being chosen as the “living memory” of that very special event, and, although it hadn't grown very much, planted there between the protruding rocks of the slope, it had always tried to make itself beautiful for the occasion.

I had discovered it almost by chance, together with the story of that old man, when I was still lucky enough to hear him tell it. Then, several times, I had climbed it for pleasure and looked after it out of passion, having adopted it as if it were a long lost relative. In winter, from its branches, I saw Udine shimmering in the distance and on summer evenings I heard crickets singing.
Since my old cherry tree died, “Rol dal nono Carli" has become “my” great tree, and every time I climb up through the old woods above Magnano in Riviera, I cannot help but go and see it. I sometimes just simply sit on the grass and admire the plain, protected from the cool air by its branches, whereas at other times I climb to the top of it and feel calm, leaving bad thoughts to fall among its ancient roots.
It is an old tree, not huge but so very special.

Its spiral bark slowly twists up to the sky, its branches caress the nearby chestnut trees and its roots embrace the rocks and communicate with the grass.
Its light spirit, humbly enclosed in the great forest but proudly overlooking the endless sea, always softens a troubled soul with a little serenity.

facebook twitter

Live your experience

Find out about the ideas and offers for this experience in Friuli Venezia Giulia

Where to stay

Age

Advanced Search

Andrea Maroè

facebook twitter instagram youtube website

I look for, climb, measure and defend the oldest, largest, most majestic and mysterious trees around the world, but I love exploring our own woodlands and nature too.