The "cider tree" of Joka

The "cider tree" of Jóka ; ; The pride of our village, the "cider tree" of Jóka was rightfully among the finalists of the "Tree of the Year" competition last year. Its age is estimated at 350 years, its height is 30 m, the diameter of its robust crown is 35 m, and the diameter of the trunk at a height of 1.5 m is 9 m. Part of its impressive root system snakes above the ground. It also occupies a prominent place among the legally protected trees of Slovakia. Regarding its species, it is the oriental plane tree (Platanus orientalis). The ancients thought the completely unknown tree species was cedar, the name then stuck, and in fact, it has remained as cidrus in our delicious regional dialect to this day. ; There are many myths and legends associated with the plane tree. According to one, the tree is much older, as King Béla IV himself gave it to the kind ferryman who helped him cross the Danube during the Tatar invasion. The king was generous, in addition to the sapling, he also gave a purse of gold as a token of his gratitude. The ferryman became a rich man in an instant, he had Ilka's castle built (from this name we derive the name of our village), but wealth made him a tyrant who made the people's lives miserable. ; However, there is much more truth to the legend according to which Miklós Bercsényi, Kuruc general-in-chief, one of the leaders of the Rákóczi War of Independence, often rested with his army under the tree, while their horses quenched their thirst at the Rákóczi drinking fountain. Bercsényi was the captain of Vágsellye near us, and Kurucz drinking fountain was called one of the (now) backwaters of the Little Danube. Who knows, maybe Ferenc II. Rákóczi himself visited us... ; The "cider tree" of Jóka is now a symbol. Legends have been written down, tales and works of art have been created about it, and the Jókai Cidrus Cither Orchestra bears its name. To our great joy, many people come to see the tree, newspapers write articles about it, and it has become somewhat popular lately. Since 2019 has been declared the Rákóczi Memorial Year, in tribute to our historical past, the local government of our village also wants to pay more attention to the tree: to make it more accessible and to take care of its environment.