Chêne d'Allouville

About

Allouville Oak is a pedunculate oak located in the centre of the Cauch village of Allouville-Bellefosse (Seine-Maritime) opposite the bell tower of Saint Quentin Church. It is considered to be the oldest known oak in France and one of the oldest in Europe. Its exact age is unknown: it was estimated at 800 years in the 19th century, but a more recent estimate attributes it at least 1,200 years.

A hollow tree (at least since the seventeenth century), it houses two small chapels. Ranked a picturesque monument in 1932, Allouville Oak received the label "Abre remarquel de France" in 2001. It has also been included in the inventory of intangible cultural heritage in France since 2009.

Since 1981 it has been paired with the remarkable oak of Liernu in Belgium. It would attract between 6,000 and 30,000 visitors each year.