Thousand-year-old Tree in Luras

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Nestled in a hilly landscape between the granite mountain and the artificial basin of Liscia, we find several specimens of Millennial Wild Olive Trees. The two monumental trees are located in the Municipality of Luras, Carana region, in the locality of Santu Baltolu, near the 18th-century rural church of medieval origin. The latter was remodeled around the 1960s, after the construction of the reservoir completely submerged the ancient Church of San Nicola, also of medieval origin and probably the parish church of the extinct village of Carana. The Church of San Bartolomeo now also “hosts” the statues of San Nicola, San Giuliano, and San Bachisio.
The site area is characterized by the presence of pottery shards and stone material that would testify to an ancient settlement from the medieval period.
The larger wild olive tree shows traces of ancient cuts of considerable size, attributed, according to oral tradition, to Tuscan charcoal makers who, between the late 1800s and early 1900s, came to Sardinia for the intensive exploitation of the island’s forest heritage. In this case, they gave up
on felling due to the extreme hardness of the wood. In the cavities at the base of the trunk, we find traces of fire, a sign of visitors who would have found shelter under the tree.
In 1991, it was declared a National Natural Monument and is included in the list of “20 centuries-old trees of Italy” to be protected, by decree of the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies.
On November 21, 2023, National Tree Day, it was awarded as the winning plant of the Italian contest “Italian Tree of the Year”, while on March 20, 2024, it won third place in the European contest, representing Italy (https://www.treeoftheyear.org/).

Loc. Carana, Luras (SS)

HATCHET (Piola)
BARRELS
SLIDING ROLLER CONVEYOR

The hatchet is the only tool used by workers specialized in cork extraction, who are called extractors or, more commonly, bark strippers, in Gallurese Li Bucadori. A figure rich in history and tradition, never replaced by advancing technology.
Each extractor has their preferred and personal hatchet, almost always handcrafted and jealously guarded. Each of them usually works in pairs, which must be perfectly synchronized and in tune.
From this point on, they move into action. Positioning themselves on opposite sides of the oak tree, the ‘Bucadori’ make several extremely precise cuts at strategic points on the trunk. In particular, they first make a horizontal cut along the entire circumference at a precise height between 1.5 and 2–3 meters, called the ‘corona’ or ‘collana’ (crown or necklace).
A meticulous cut, done well only if it has a certain inclination with respect to the vertical of the tree, if it follows a straight line, and if its surface is clean and smooth.
But above all, a cut that highlights and enhances the experience and skill of each bark stripper compared to their colleagues.
Following the entire vertical of the plant and tracing the different portions of bark to be extracted, called planks, the other cuts are named openings or rulers.
Not by chance, the bark strippers must try to act by imparting a certain force to the hatchet, with precise sensitivity, in order to avoid damaging the layer underneath the cork, the so-called phellogen, fundamental for the life of the cork oak. (1591) Source: Sadenda

Ancient workbench of the ‘square maker’ on which cork strips were placed and cut to produce squares. The squares were made by eye without measurements and were more or less always the same.

Machinery used for the selection of corks which, while rotating and sliding between the rollers, are chosen by the operator according to the quality desired.
This is the last phase of cork processing.