Pi d'en Xandri

The Pi d’en Xandri is one of the oldest pines in Catalonia.

The Pi d’en Xandri is one of the oldest pine trees of Catalonia and an ecological, cultural and historical symbol of Sant Cugat. It is estimated that it was born around the year 1774, at the time of Mozart, Kant, and Napoleon Bonaparte, 234 years ago. It is a pine (Pinus pinea) and is located in the rural park of the Torre Negra. It has a considerable height ?23 meters and a trunk of 3.20 meters in diameter. Its crown makes 21 meters in width and has a peculiar form, such as an umbrella, with a half-naked wayward branch. The Pi d’en Xandri lost part of its branches due to the snow that was accumulated on Christmas Day of 1962, when a formidable snowfall covered Catalonia in white. In 1997 some vandals tried to cut it down and fire it. It was necessary to inject it a piece of an alive trunk for the sap to moving again and it was secured with the trunks that nowadays surround it in order to facilitate its recovering it. The way that was traditionally used to go to Sant Medir is born in Plaça Rotary. A few meters after crossing the ravine of Sant Crist, we take the path on the right heading for the Torre Negra. Right after, we arrive to another crossing, where we continue straight ahead leaving a trail that goes to the right. At the next crossing, however, we change of direction and we head for the narrow path of the right, in the direction of the Torre Negra, a beautiful fortified house where we can distinguish the battlements of defence. The path leads to a wider track that we take to the right. We pass before some horse riding facilities and at the end, we find another crossroads that we take to the left. This path borders the horse riding facilities and leads into a new breeding ground that we take to the right. We got back to an intersection where they begin two roads on the left. The first goes up toward the hill of the Torre and the second goes down toward Sant Vicenç del Bosc. We take this down by drawing a very sharply double curve. In short there is a crossroads. We take the road can Borrell, down to its right and which passes near a few henhuts and a home. We must take care not to get lost. The road is narrow and it is transformed into a path. There is a crossroads where we leave a trail that goes to the right (which is part of the route of the marathon of Collserola). A little bit later we find another crossing which is similar to the first one, where we also take to the left. We cross a ravine among thick vegetation and continue through the forest to a new crossing of trails, where we take the one on the left. We come to a small clearing with a new crossing. We turn again to the left, along a path that looks more like a trench that a road. About a hundred meters later, we take a detour to the right. This new path crosses the ravine of the Torre Negra and reaches some meadows. We border them by the left. At the end of the meadows it starts a path which, after crossing the ravine of Sant Medir, leads us to the path of Sant Medir and the Pi d’en Xandri. The way back to Sant Cugat will be done by the road that goes from Sant Medir to Sant Cugat and that passes in front of the pine. Pi d’en Xandri: the Pi d’en Xandri is one of the oldest pine trees of Catalonia. The tree was declared of regional and local interest in 1995.