The olive for us is a way, a way of life, that's why every drop of oil
it includes a year full of love and care.
Olive oil and History
Olive oil inMinoan era
Excavations and specialized studies conducted by scientists to date have shown that the inhabitants of Crete have collected and eaten olives since the Neolithic Age, i.e. 6,000-3,000 years BC. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, i.e. around 3,000 BC, they began to cultivate olive trees and extract the oil from their fruit with primitive means, breaking and squeezing the olives. The systematic production of oil had begun even before the Minoans built their first palaces, around 2,000 BC. and so oil became the basis of the food pyramid in the Minoan era.
Apart from the diet, the uses of olive oil were many. They used it as a medicine, plain or mixed together with other herbs such as sage for smearing and cleansing the body, while flavored with flowers such as safron and iris for their beautification. Also, they used it in the lamps as a lighting material while the core that remained from the crushing of the olives was ecological heating material and they burned it in the stoves for cooking inside the houses because the burning of the core creates minimal smoke.
For these reasons the production of olive oil played a very important role in the economy of Minoan Crete, in all the Minoan palaces huge jars were found for the storage of oil which they certainly traded. The love of the Minoans for the tree that gave them so many benefits can be seen from its depictions in their art, a favorite subject was the olive tree, its flowers, and fruit that we see in murals, on vases, and jewelry.
Olive oil oneastern Crete
Eastern Crete and especially the region of Sitia is full of evidence for the cultivation of olives and the production of olive oil, in all eras but mainly in the Minoan. In the palace of Zakros, in a well, a cup with whole edible olives was found. Workshops for the production of oil and large jars for its storage were found in many Minoan farmhouses. In Papadiokampos, olive kernels were found in stands, as fuel.
The soil and the special climatic conditions that prevail throughout the year favor the olive and its production. The soil and the special climatic conditions that prevail throughout the year favor the olive and its production. Cretans who love it and consume large quantities of virgin olive oil owe the secret of their longevity to it, as proven by serious research and studies by scientists.