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The Hundred Horse Chestnut ((イタリア語:Castagno dei Cento Cavalli); ) is the largest and oldest known chestnut tree in the world. Located on Linguaglossa road in Sant'Alfio, on the eastern slope of Mount Etna in Sicily〔.〕 — only from the volcano's crater — it is generally believed to be 2,000 to 4,000 years old (4,000 according to the botanist Bruno Peyronel from Turin). It is a Sweet Chestnut (''Castanea sativa'', family Fagaceae). ''Guinness World Records'' has listed it for the record of "Greatest Tree Girth Ever", noting that it had a circumference of 57.9 m (190 ft) when it was measured in 1780. Above-ground the tree has since split into multiple large trunks, but below-ground these trunks still share the same roots. The tree's name originated from a legend in which a queen of Aragon and her company of one hundred knights, during a trip to Mount Etna, were caught in a severe thunderstorm. The entire company is said to have taken shelter under the tree.〔〔( The Chestnut tree of Mount Etna ), detailed account of the tree, its state and its surroundings, written by Wm. Rushton on June 29, 1871. 〕 ==Literary allusions== The tree and its legend have become the subject of various songs and poems, including the following Sicilian-language description by the Catanese poet Giuseppe Borrello (1820–1894): Another Catanese poet, Giuseppe Villaroel (1889–1965), described the tree in the following sonnet (written in Italian): :Dal tronco, enorme torre millenaria, :i verdi rami in folli ondeggiamenti, :sotto l'amplesso quèrulo dei venti, :svettano ne l'ampiezza alta de l'aria. :Urge la linfa, ne la statuaria :perplessità de le radici ergenti, :sotto i lacoontei contorcimenti, :dal suolo che s'intesse d'orticaria. :E l'albero - Briareo lignificato - :ne lo spasimo atroce che lo stringe :con catene invisibili alla terra, :tende le braccia multiple di sfinge :scagliando contro il cielo e contro il fato :una muta minaccia ebbra di guerra.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hundred Horse Chestnut」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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