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This is Milan’s “par excellence” oak (Quercus rubra), planted in 1895 and later moved to this square on May 24, 1924, by the engineer Giulio Capè. The latter celebrated his son Giuseppe coming back from the battlefields of the Great War, and remembered all the Italian casualties with a memorial stone dedicated “To the fallen for the homeland of the Ticinese-Lodovica district”.

When Capè passed away, his family donated the oak to the Municipality of Milan which has taken care of it ever since. In fact, a pyramidal structure to support the shabby oak has been recently installed and cleverly camouflaged with natural green colors. In 2004, artist Maurizio Catellan hung three puppets on the branches, to represent some children victims of violence – this installation caused much stir and controversy, until one day somebody removed the three puppets from the magnificent tree.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)