The Cultural Institute of Messinia announced the inclusion of the historic “Plane Tree of King Menelaus” into the Network of Long-Lived Trees of the Greek Revolution.
The centuries-old tree stands beside the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Karyes, in Sparta. The Peloponnese network now includes 71 monumental trees. Researchers said the ancient plane tree is the largest and oldest in a historic cluster linked by local tradition to Menelaus and the Trojan War, and referenced in accounts by 2nd-century traveler Pausanias.
The designation coincides with 200 years since Ibrahim Pasha’s 1826 raids on Karyes. Commemorative events will include an official marking of the monumental tree.
