Being of huge size, the old fig tree rises in front of the main entrance to the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque (St Nicholas Cathedral) in Famagusta. It is believed to be planted when the cathedral was established in 1220 A.D. making it more than 780 years old. It belongs to a variety of tropical fig tree `Ficus sycomorus', which is native to East Africa. Its main trunk is surrounded by smaller trunks which come out of the main trunk and it appears that they have sprung up from the colossal root system. According to an old Turkish-Cypriot who has lived all his life near to the cathedral `there are seven of these trunks round the main trunk, one for every hundred years'. Some might think that it is just a legendary story but there exists scientific truth to this. The tree is indexed in the Department of Culture’s National Heritage List and is looked after by the Department of Forestry Famagusta Office.