The origin of the word quercus is uncertain; some authors believe that it comes from Celtic, more specifically from kaer, nice, and quess tree. In ancient cultures of Europe and the Celtic inhabitants of European forests and northern half of the Iberian Peninsula, oaks represent the strength and nobility and are still revered and protected some famous oak under which ceremonies and councils were held. The Tree of Guernica, currently represented by a descendant of another who died in the nineteenth century, belongs to this species. It is a long-lived tree that can live up to 600 years. Its wood, of long duration, is very popular in furniture making and shipbuilding: thus the Spanish sailor and writer based in Seville in the sixteenth century, Juan Escalante de Mendoza, recommended its use, if it could be a single item, for the construction of masts of ships as Christopher Columbus used. During the restoration of the nineteenth century, although they used scantlings from Flanders for roofs, and mahogany doors, the constant references to the origin of wood, were used primarily in the area of A Coruña (Padrón), suggests that the usual wood should be pine, oak or chestnut. Another case of the use of wood from a tree present in the gardens at the architecture of the Real Alcázar.