Olive oil

The olive and the olive oil are closely connected with the mythology and the history, the tradition, the religion, the art but also the social and economic life of the inhabitants of Crete 9000 years before today.

Ideograms depicting the olive, the olive fruit from the olive oil on the plates of the Linear A and B script prove the relationship of the Minoans with the olive and its products from 1800 BC.

The ancient Greeks during the Olympic Games that were established in 776 BC crowned the Olympians with a “kotino” wreath of branches that were always cut by the same wild olive tree known as “Kallistefano”.

According to the codex of the father of Medicine Hippocrates, olive oil was considered beneficial for more than 60 therapeutic uses.

The average per capita consumption of olive oil in Crete is the highest in the world and exceeds 25 kg per person per year. The famous study of the seven countries, designed by Anzel Keys, when published in 1980 revealed that the level of health of Cretans was the best in the world. Cancers and cardiovascular diseases were rare, as the number of deaths due to them per 100,000 people in Crete was only 9 compared to 466 in Finland. Eventually this turned out to be due to the Cretan diet that has olive oil as its main ingredient.
Today the olives cover ¼ of the total area of Crete.