Dubovoye Oak Wood

Dubovoye settlement in Belgorod District is named for a giant oak in the central park. Local legend holds it was planted in 1654 by Prince Grigory Romodanovsky and Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky to mark reunification of Russia and Ukraine; a 2013 dendrological survey dated the tree to about two centuries. The veteran oak is a federal nature monument under the "Trees — Nature Monuments" programme. Height about seventeen metres, trunk girth about five metres; the park is a specially protected regional zone. Alleys, a pond and a church of the "Bread-Giver" icon surround the oak. The settlement day is marked on 28 October each year. Dubovoye is part of the Belgorod agglomeration, seven kilometres south of the city centre. It arose post-war as a horticultural colony; today more than sixteen thousand people live here. Combine with Belgorod chalk hills and Nikitsky Spring — all within half an hour's drive from the centre. Dubovoye veteran oak is fenced — no ribbons on branches. 28 October is settlement day with limited parking.