An olive tree on Corfu, known by locals as ‘Evdokia’, has been estimated to be between 1086 and 1200 years of age following studies by German scientists from the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden).

Professors Andreas Roloff and Stern Gillner estimated the age of the tree at 1086 years give or take 10 years. They believe that it was planted at sometime around 928 AD, before the occupations by Saracens, Normans and Venetians.

The study was spearheaded by the efforts of Eleni Konofaou, founder of the Hellenic Union of Heptanesians (HUH) and biologist Eleni Louka.

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Islanders had contacted the dendrochronology specialists of TU Dresden’s Institute of Forest Botany and Forest Zoology after a series of failed attempts to attract Greek academics and government officials.

German scientists took up the challenge and arrived at Strongyli to examine the tree in 2014. They processed data from the region of Strongyli, where the tree is located, with the help of Ms Louka, a resident of the town.

Following the study, it is believed that Evdokia is one of the ten largest and oldest living trees in Europe.

The owner of the plot of land where the tree is located has allowed for the tree’s promotion by members of the HUH, and schools and tourist groups on Corfu have already expressed an interest to visit Evdokia.

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