The sacred trait the olive tree enjoyed from antiquity was in the early Christian era, transferred to its product olive oil. Olive oil is mentioned both in the Old and New Testament. It became a mystical element. The most important of the sacraments, that of baptism, which seals the baptised as a servant of God, […]
The olive trees of Greece have been destroyed many times during her long history. In wartime they were always among the first thing that the enemy attacked, as a way to drive the country to starvation. After the Greek War of Independence in 1821 and later on during the First and Second World Wars, whole […]
The Greek presence in Italy had a decisive impact on the development of the area. Greek ideas, religion, art, and knowledge all predominated on the Italian shore eventually to be adopted by the Roman Empire which ultimately conquered Greece. From the Greco-Roman colony of Byzantium, yet another empire sprang, the Byzantine, and the humble Greek […]
Olive oil played a crucial role in the ancient Olympiad. The ideal of the Olympic Games was inspired by the legend of Hercules. Athletes anointed themselves with olive oil before the Games. Victors were crowned with a wreath of olive branches and awarded with amphorae of oil. The branches were always cut from a special […]
The olive tree figures large in the Greek myths and in essence is at the very foundations of western civilization. According to legend, Athens got its name after the goddess Athena and the god Poseidon competed to deliver the most useful gift to mankind. Poseidon donated a splendid war horse. Athens bestowed an olive tree […]
The silver-green foliage of the olive tree has graced the mountains and shores of Greece from as far back as 60,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence attests to the long and continuous presence of the olive tree on Greek soil. Leaves of the oldest known cultivated trees, dating back 55,000 years, have been unearthed on the […]