BRADESIAI OAK

A large oak holy grove once grew in the valley between the Bradesiai Hillfort and the Sartai lake. Holy grove is called Tiltalemiškis (Tilteliomiškis). People remember that there used to be a bridge here. The bridge was considered mythological. It connects Vēliai hill, Velikuškiai and Bradesiai Hillforts. The name of the forest comes from the word “tiltas“ (bridge). Now the oak grove is dominated by a few remaining oaks, the most magnificent of which is the Bradesiai oak, and the sanctity of the latter is an altar built by representatives of the white faith. The Bradesiai oak is the brother of the Stelmužė oak, the thickest in Lithuania, which remembers the long and mysterious history of Lithuania. The mighty tree, whose entire crown is green, blooms profusely in spring and litters the ground with acorns in autumn, probably competes in longevity only with the oldest Stelmužė oak, which is rapidly disappearing in Europe. The exact age of the tree is not known, it is only assumed that the tree is 700 years old. Now, the tree has reached its natural maturity and is in the stagnation phase.  There are legends and stories about the oak. Residents say that the growing area of this oak tree is special: this is evidenced by the alley of powerful trees - oaks, lindens and maples - and the place of the altar with the surviving accents of pagan rites. One oak tree was struck by lightning, and now its trunk seems to be pierced by a healed wound. Lightning tore off half of another mighty oak, but the tree quickly healed. In the third oak, in the fork of the trunk, a young oak has grown like an arrow. The Bradesiai oak grows on a private plot of land.