For years, the tree has provided spiritual strength for the hopeless. Those with a wish would tie a piece of cloth on a tree branch while making their wish. The villagers are hoping the officials will recognize the importance of the tree for tourism purposes, and help them draw in more tourists to the village. Currently, the round pine is being protected by a metal fence, which has been erected around it by the government.
The tree, which is located around one mile north-west of the village of Çınarlı, is included in the monumental trees list within the boundaries of TRNC.
This tree covers quite a big area and one of the features that set it apart from the other trees is the fact that it grows horizontally rather than vertically. Additionally, due to its circular shape, it is known as the “Round Pine”.
The tree that resembles two dwarfs
Legend has it that the village of Çınarlı was set up near a stream called ‘Vurmes’. On certain days, the women and girls of the village would go to that stream and wash clothes.
Boys who were of marrying age would frequent the stream to spy on the girls… Among these boys were two dwarfs, both very proud men. As luck would have it, one day these two both fell in love, with the same charming, blonde-haired and green-eyed girl of the village.
One of the dwarfs was a shoemaker. After falling in love, he decided to nail the first letter of the girl’s name underneath his shoes. He believed that as he walked around on the dirt road, the first letter of his love would be imprinted on the dirt and his love would therefore grow.
The other dwarf was a sieve-maker. His love led him to prick the first letter of the girl’s name in the middle of these sieves. He was convinced that both the sieves and the sifted flour blown into the wind would spread his love all around.
One day, both dwarfs found out that they have fallen in love with the same woman. That day, they both wept and then decided to wrestle with each other for their love. The agreement was that neither would use any weapon that could cause bleeding and the one to lose would give up on his love. The wrestling match carried on for days and eventually both dwarfs died of exhaustion. The villagers buried these two men side by side.
After a while, a pine tree began to grow on the same spot where the dwarfs were buried. As the tree grew bigger, the owner of the land decided to cut it down. However, when the man swung his axe at the tree, a red liquid oozed out of its trunk. The frightened landowner immediately changed his mind about cutting down the tree and rushed back to the village to tell the others about what he had seen.
The elders of the village believed this was the blood of the dwarfs that hadn’t bled. Thereafter, the pine tree came to be greatly revered by the villagers.
If you look carefully at this tree, it is possible to recognize the muscle-like structure of the tree branches and that there are only 5 twigs on each limb of the tree. Both these anomalies corroborate the legend and moreover, the short and sturdy trunk of the tree resemble characteristic dwarf hips. Finally, the heart-shaped twigs on the limb stretching out towards the north and a dagger hiding among the tree branches are two other miracles associated with the legend.
Nowadays, people are bewitched by the unusual features of this tree.
According to another legend, which promoted the pine to the rank of a monumental tree, an old man, who had fallen prey to tuberculosis, was advised by the doctors to move away from the city to a place with a lot of sunshine and clean air. Following this advice, the old man, together with his wife, had moved under this tree. After the old man regained his health back, he continued to visit the tree frequently even after he moved back home.
During one of his visits, the old man forgot his sash on the branch of this tree. The people who saw the sash hanging from the tree assumed that someone had made a wish and tied a cloth for it. Thereupon, the number of people visiting the tree increased.
Among those visitors was a man named Cemal, who was unable to have children. He vowed that if he could have a son, he would set up irrigation for the tree.
When Cemal finally had a child, instead of the irrigation, he put a hefty amount of money in the tree hollow. This led to other people offering money to the tree as well.
