Olive Press Museum

Olives play a very large part in the lives of the Greeks. You don't have to look far to see an olive tree growing. Many of them are very old and live to an average age of 600-800 years though it isn't unusual to find them well over a 1000 years old. Even a tree that looks past its used by date will spring back into life with a good prune. On Crete there is one that is over 3000 years old and although we didn't see that one we did see the tree in photo below which is at least a 1000 years old. It was on the site of the winery we visited and had some religious significance so the olives weren't able to be harvested.

Today more modern presses are used to obtain the oil but in days gone by this was a much more labour intensive job and all those with olives to press would bring them to the local village press. One of these traditional presses can be seen in the village of Damlas, and is set up as a museum. It was a half hour drive from Agia Anna and Averil thought that it was a place we would enjoy visiting.

We found it fascinating. It was in the village and open to any visitors to visit at any time. On the wall were information boards that explained the process, in both Greek and English. The olives arrive as soon as possible after harvest from the trees. Even this process is labour intensive as they are raked into mats to be gathered up. Next they are tipped into the mill to be crushed. This was operated by five people pushing on large poles and walking around the mill to turn it.







This crushed mixture was then scooped out and out into large sacks. These were then out in the press. Hot water was added to warm the crushed olives and the press was first wound down by hand and then turned further by the aid of a winch.










The oil and water streamed out into the first tub. The oil floated to the top and drained into a second tub and the water was siphoned out into a drain. The oil was then scooped into container using a gourd. The owners of the press kept 10% of the oil as payment.










Averil and Theopolis harvest some of their own olive trees, in a more modern press than the traditional one we saw but they still don't get enough to supply a whole year's needs. Ave told me that they use about a 100 kilos(litres) a year and this is for a family of three adults. Theopolis buys the shortfall from locals he knows who have a surplus.

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