Protected tree • Makov, the U Papají settlement • 720 m a.s.l.
One of the oldest elms in central Europe.
In the U Papají settlement, in the part of Makov called Kopanice, a field elm grows by a cottage – according to the Kysuce PLA Administration one of the oldest elms in central Europe. Since 1995 it has been part of Makov's coat of arms.
Why come here
Few elms this old are left in Europe – since the 20th century the species has been decimated by Dutch elm disease. According to the Kysuce PLA Administration this one is among the oldest in central Europe.
When to come
The tree is visible without leaves from autumn to April – and that is also when it flowers, in March and April. Through the summer the crown hides it, but in May and June the seeds ripen and fall.
One more thing
Makov has the tree in its arms: a golden elm with four roots on a blue shield. The roots stand for the parts of the village – Čierne, Potok, Kopanice and Trojačka – and the same number of massive branches stands for the four tributaries of the river Kysuca.
First a tree by a house. Then a tree that outlived the houses. In the end a tree that stands for the village.
Kopanice
The U Papají settlement is one of the kopanice chotáry scattered across the slopes above Makov. The village memorial book puts its beginning in 1521, when two families – the Pápays and the Lábays – are said to have come here across the White Carpathians. One settled below the ridge towards Kysučné, the other towards Semeteš; both settlements are named after them.
A custom is tied to this part of the Javorníky that the whole story of the tree rests on: a tree was planted beside every newly built log cottage. It was to protect the house from the elements and at the same time served as a measure of its age – as tall the tree, as old the house.
It was in exactly that period, some time in the 16th century, that the elm at Papaje was planted, judging by the estimate of its age. The houses around it have been replaced since then; the elm stayed and became the measure of age itself – not for one house, though, but for the whole settlement.
The village arms
The arms show a golden elm with four roots on a blue shield – each root standing for one part of the village: Čierne, Potok, Kopanice and Trojačka. Its massive branches come to the same number: they stand for the four equal tributaries of the river Kysuca that run down from those parts.
The design came out of a public competition the village held in 1994 with the Kysucké múzeum v Čadci – from 217 entries by 185 authors the jury chose the motif of the river Kysuca and the protected tree, which the academic sculptor Milan Greguš, a native of the Greguše settlement, worked into the arms. The village council adopted the arms on 23 March 1995, and a few weeks later the Heraldic Commission of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic approved them as well.
A one-off
The trunk measures 676 centimetres in girth at 130 cm above the ground – a figure published by the Kysuce PLA Administration in 2024. At the roots the girth is over 11 metres and the tree is around 30 metres tall. Its age is estimated at 400 years, and according to the Administration it is among the oldest field elms in central Europe.
The position itself is unusual too. The field elm is a tree of the lowlands – it belongs in river floodplains and on the alluvium of large rivers, usually at 400 to 500 metres above sea level. This one grows a good two hundred metres higher, on a kopanice hillside – where a wych elm would be more expected.
Old elms are a rarity in Europe. Since the 20th century they have been decimated by Dutch elm disease – an illness that has cut their numbers right across the continent.
Condition and care
Brest u Papají has been protected since 1973 – by a resolution of the council of the then Okresný národný výbor v Čadci it was entered in the state register as a protected natural formation, and a protection zone was declared around the trunk – a circle ten metres in radius set aside purely for the roots.
In December 2005 snow bent the elm's crown so far that several branches broke off it. In the spring of 2006 the tree was therefore treated and its crown balanced. The village looks after the surroundings – there are information panels, benches on the meadow, a footbridge over the brook and paths right up to the tree.
The age shows on the tree. There are cavities where branches have broken off, and the fruiting bodies of wood-decay fungi on the bark. The village survey does not conceal the elm's condition: it puts the tree's social value at just under 13,000 euros and its damage in the band of 26 to 60 per cent. The elm is marked, but alive.
Timeline
1521
The Makov memorial book puts the beginning of the U Papají settlement in 1521 – two families, the Pápays and the Lábays, settle below the Javorníky ridge.
16th century
The estimate of about 400 years dates the planting to precisely the time when these slopes were being settled and a tree was planted beside every new log cottage.
20 April 1973
A resolution of the council of the ONV at Čadca (no. 86/1973) enters the tree in the state register as a protected natural formation with a protection zone 10 metres in radius.
23 March 1995
The village council adopts arms with a golden elm with four roots – the design by the academic sculptor Milan Greguš came out of a public competition held in 1994.
December 2005
Under the weight of snow several branches of the crown were damaged.
spring 2006
Treatment and balancing of the crown follow – work meant to take away the risk of further breakage.
today
Marked but alive – the elm at Papaje goes on growing and remains the measure of the settlement's age.
The Kysuce PLA Administration estimates its age at 400 years (a figure from 2024).
According to the Kysuce PLA Administration it is among the oldest field elms in central Europe. When measured in 2024 its trunk girth at 130 cm was 676 cm, the girth at the roots was over 11 metres and the tree was about 30 metres tall. It also grows at 720 metres above sea level, whereas its species normally occurs at 400 to 500 metres, mainly in the lowlands and on river alluvium.
The council of the ONV at Čadca entered it in the state register as a protected natural formation on 20 April 1973 (resolution no. 86/1973).
The village arms show a golden elm with four roots on a blue shield. The roots stand for the four parts of Makov – Čierne, Potok, Kopanice and Trojačka – and the same number of massive branches stands for the four equal tributaries of the river Kysuca that run down from those parts. The arms were designed by the academic sculptor Milan Greguš after a public competition in 1994, and the village adopted them on 23 March 1995.
Yes. “Brest” is the Slovak name of the genus that Czech calls jilm and English elm. At Papaje it is brest hrabolistý (Ulmus carpinifolia, now Ulmus minor), the field elm.
It is marked by age. There are cavities in the trunk, the fruiting bodies of wood-decay fungi on the bark, and in December 2005 several branches broke under snow. The village survey puts the damage in the band of 26 to 60 per cent.
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