The Great Sequoia, Remarkable tree in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

The Great Sequoia is a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) that stood in the back garden of the building at 12 Magdalena Street, next to the Urkide school and near La Florida park. It reached 40 metres in height, with a trunk girth of 8.05 metres and a crown 16 metres across. The tree died in 2014; its remains are enclosed by walls and buildings, and wooden platforms built over the soil remain in place.

Juan Ibarrondo bought the sapling at the 1858 Brussels Universal Exhibition and planted it in 1860 in the garden of a house at Magdalena street 12, next to the Ursuline school. The Basque Government declared it a singular tree by Decree 265/1995. It died in 2014 from a honey fungus (Armillaria mellea) infection.

The giant sequoia was protected as a singular tree of the Basque Country by Decree 265/1995 of the Basque Government, while it was still alive. It stood in the garden of the building at Magdalena street 12, beside the Ursuline school, and was counted among the oldest macroscopic living beings in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Its remains still stand in that walled courtyard.

The dead sequoia stands not in La Florida park but in the walled back garden of the building at Magdalena street 12, beside the Urkide school, about 200 m from the park. Wooden platforms built over its base keep visitors off the soil; the rest of the garden is covered with plant remains. The site is enclosed by walls and buildings, so it is seen from outside rather than entered.

Though the tree died in 2014 from an infection, specialists believe its remains will stand visible for another 40 to 60 years. This grants it an unusual afterlife where it continues as a physical landmark even after its living phase has ended.