Α17 - Olive oil

The region has been one of the most important oil production areas in the Mediterranean basin since the 19th century. Athenian olives are cultivated in the nortern parts of the Municipality, while the Koroneiki variety was named after Koroni, from where the people of Mani used to take olives during the Venetian occupation. The importance of oil production for the people of Mani was such that an olive press can be found in almost all settlements, often in the houses of the captains, who had the monopoly of the oil trade. The abundant stone of the landscape of Mani proved very useful to locals, who used to process olives during the 19th and early 20th century by moving back and forth a cylindrical stone over a flat stone surface, called “libi”. CCEM exhibits many tools that were used in oil production, like: bucksaws, fiber disks, ceramic jars, ladoussa, kadi and harani.

Picture: Courtesy of Yiannis Vourlitis, “Image Bible of Mani”, Adouloti Mani Publications