Cysters Oak in Rudy

Behind the basilica of the former Cistercian abbey in Rudy grows a pedunculate oak that was already a giant in 1752, when the German engraver Johann Elias Ridinger included its outline in a print of the monastery. "Cysters" ("The Cistercian") – a name given by foresters of the Rudy Raciborskie forest district – is around 500 years old according to tree experts and ranks among the most impressive trees in Upper Silesia.

Rudy's oldest resident

The Old Abbey foundation gives its age as 520 years, its height as 31 m and its trunk girth as 740 cm, measured 130 cm above the ground; the State Forests quoted 26 m and 735 cm in 2023 – the figures come from measurements taken at different times. In 1858 the historian August Potthast, in a book published for the abbey's 600th anniversary, described the huge oak behind the church rising "like a monument to the history of Rudy". The tree is one of more than 50 protected natural monuments in the former Cistercian park and remains in the care of the Polish State Forests.

Fire in the trunk

The lower trunk is partly hollow, which is natural for an old oak. In late October 2022 vandals lit a fire inside it; firefighters put it out, but parts of the inner trunk burned and the culprits were never found. Foresters ordered a tomography scan, which they could compare with an earlier scan made more than a decade before. Hence a simple rule today: do not climb into the trunk, do not touch it and never light a fire nearby.

The offspring of "Cysters"

Foresters have raised hundreds of young trees from its acorns, used for commemorative avenues such as an oak avenue marking World Youth Day. Since March 2023 the Old Abbey has been selling "Cysters" saplings – in the abbey courtyard, Tuesday to Friday 8:30–15:00, by prior phone reservation, for PLN 50 (according to the abbey's website; availability is seasonal).

Tripto tip

You see the oak from the outside while walking through the park around the former Cistercian abbey and palace complex. The tree itself takes only a few minutes, but the landscape park laid out between 1822 and 1846 across 95 ha deserves at least an hour. Three versions of a dendrological nature trail run through it. Combine your visit with the basilica, the abbey's museum section, the Łężczok nature reserve with fishponds created by the Cistercians in the 14th century, and a ride on the historic narrow-gauge railway, whose station is a few minutes' walk away. Note that the museum part of the abbey may be closed during holidays and seasonal fairs.