Old chestnut tree

The sweet chestnut was introduced into Europe from Sardis, in Asia Minor; the fruit was then called the Sardian nut.
It has been a staple food in southern Europe, Turkey, and southwestern and eastern Asia for millennia, largely replacing cereals where these would not grow well, if at all, in mountainous Mediterranean areas.
Evidence of its cultivation by man is found since around 2000 BC.
Alexander the Great and the Romans planted chestnut trees across Europe while on their various campaigns.
A Greek army is said to have survived their retreat from Asia Minor in 401–399 BC thanks to their stores of chestnuts.
Some of these trees in the picture are more than one thousand years old.