This place, which had been used for centuries, is renowned and revered by the Basque people, according to Paul Preston. On Oct 6th 1936 the newly President of Basque government Jose Antonio de Aguirre y Lecube and his cabinet were sworn in at a ceremony before the Tree of Guernica. It followed the Republican Government’s decision to grant the region autonomy on Oct 1st 1936. That tree survived the bombing but has recently fallen down. A new one is being grown to replace it.